Radical landreform proposals revealed by the Scottish Government will require ‘massive public spending’, according to Scottish Land and Estates (SLE).
The landowners’ body has questioned how proposals set out by the Land Reform Review Group (LRRG) would be funded.
The 260-page report, which was published last week, sets out 62 recommendations including imposing a limit on the acreage owned by any one individual or business entity and the introduction a land value tax.
It also called for the creation of more publicly-funded bodies such as a Land Commission to look at the sale and ownership of land and a major 10-year exercise to map Scotland.
Newly appointed SLE chairman David Johnstone said: “Having had time to digest the report perhaps the most striking question it raises is how all of this would be funded.
“The LRRG itself acknowledges there would have to be an increased spending commitment from the Scottish Government but the extent of the recommendations could require public funding into hundreds of millions of pounds, particularly if the enforced sale of property went ahead.”
Mr Johnstone added: “Although ardent land reform campaigners will argue a price cannot be put on ideologically driven transformation, at a time when bodies such as small community housing trusts are struggling for funding to achieve their objectives, we would suggest that if this money exists then those who live and work in rural Scotland could suggest more practical measures for delivering real solutions for their area than the LRRG have come up with.”
A spokesman for the review group said it was down to the Government to decide whether to adopt the proposals, and in turn decide how they would be funded.