Community by-out projects increase by nearly 800% after SNP boost but are stalled in Tory England

Built in 1968 as a church near the M8 in central Glasgow, the Pyramid was bought by local people in 2019 with land fund and lottery support, and converted into a community centre, hosting knitting groups, yoga classes, a youth theatre, choral singing and film screenings. Image Colin McLean

In the Guardian today:

Local communities, often in deprived neighbourhoods, are buying up derelict and unused property for village shops, play parks, community centres and, in one case, a film set for war movies, using buyout powers introduced by the Scottish parliament since its foundation in 1999.

The land reform debate is often overshadowed by the buyouts of islands or totemic Highland estates. Yet those sales have ground to halt, partly due to competition from private buyers pursuing speculative investments using woodland and peat restoration as carbon sinks, which has sharply driven up land prices.

Scottish government data shows that by the end of 2022 there were 754 places in community ownership in Scotland, up from 85 in 2000, run by more than 500 community groups, with many scattered across the Highlands and the Western Isles.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/01/community-buyout-projects-scotland

Though introduced by Scottish Labour, the scheme has been progressively beefed-up under the SNP:

This right to buy came into force in April 2020. It allows compliant community groups the opportunity to apply for the right to buy land to further sustainable development and includes salmon fishing, mineral rights and, significantly, this new right to buy allows a community body (which is subject to statutory regulation) to nominate a third party purchaser to take title to the ground being acquired. It should be noted that this latest right to buy is an absolute right to buy, meaning a community organisation may force the sale of land even where the owner of the land is not contemplating a sale.

https://www.gov.scot/policies/land-reform/right-to-buy-land-to-further-sustainable-development/

In England, the above right to buy does not apply. See: https://plunkett.co.uk/plunkett-foundation-calls-for-a-uk-wide-community-right-to-buy/

One thought on “Community by-out projects increase by nearly 800% after SNP boost but are stalled in Tory England

  1. Severin Carrel will get his jotters from the Guardian if he continues to produce articles like this. His job as ‘Scotland editor’ is to show that these colonials in Scotlandshire are incapable of doing things for themselves, other than murdering and maiming each other or poisoning themselves with drugs alcohol and deep fried Mars Bars, without handouts from the people of North London.

    However, it is important to employ the principle of charity and congratulate him for writing a positive piece.

    Like

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.