Episode 21 Landward

Throughout history, land has meant power.

Little wonder, then, that the question of who owns Scotland has become so vexed.

This week on Landward, we tackle land reform.

How land is managed touches every aspect of our lives.

Whether you live in the town or the country, the price of property,

the cost of food and the way in which we spend our spare time

are all affected by our system of land ownership,

which is why we're devoting the whole programme to examine

the new land reform proposals.

Euan meets the largest landowner in the country, the Duke of Buccleuch.

What worries me is that this precious legislative time

is not really addressing the issues of what we do with the land.

I visit the community-owned woodland on Mull

providing new opportunities for young families.

It's an opportunity for us to build something for the future

and have some security.

And Sarah takes a trip to Norway, to find out how THEY do things.

The government can decide that you are not allowed

to buy any more land, because this farm is big enough.

But before all that,

Sarah explains the basics of what is being suggested.

A year ago, Nicola Sturgeon announced her first programme for government.

Her proposals included what she described

as a radical programme of land reform.

Scotland's land must be an asset that benefits the many, not the few.

APPLAUSE

In June this year, the Land Reform Bill was introduced

by the Scottish Government, and next year, it is expected to become law.

The central proposals are -

that sporting estates should pay business rates,

ending an exemption that dates back to the '90s.

A new Land Reform Commission will be established.

Its job will be to advise the government on land issues

and to make sure land reform continues beyond this bill.

There are also a number of wide-ranging changes

to the law governing farm tenancies.

We'll look at the tenancy proposals later in the series.

But perhaps one of the most controversial aspects of the bill

is a new right that would force landowners to sell their land

to community groups, if it was decided

that the landowner was standing in the way of sustainable development.

As it stands, the new rules would apply to any landowner,

large or small.

For some, forcing people to sell their property,

no matter what the aim, is just a step too far.

For others, though, the proposals do not go far enough,

with no controls over how much land one individual can own

or who can own land.

Some of the SNP's own membership doesn't think the current bill

goes far enough.

At the party's conference in October,

they sent a message to their leadership.

Does radical land reform leave 750,000, three quarters of a million acres of Scotland,

in the hands of our accountable, nameless corporations

based in tax havens across the globe?

No, it doesn't, and we have the power to change that now.

CHEERING

After what happened at the conference,

many experts are saying that we're likely to see

a commitment to even more land reform

in the SNP manifesto for the 2016 Scottish parliamentary election.

But in the meantime, let's rewind a little.

Why is there thought to be a need for land reform?

Dougie is in Edinburgh to find out.

Scotland is said to have the most concentrated pattern of land ownership in Europe,

with fewer than 500 people controlling half of all privately-owned land.

I have come to the National Library of Scotland

to meet historian Dr Annie Tindley,

who has studied the history of land ownership in depth.

Annie, we have this concentrated pattern of land ownership in Scotland.

How did we get to that point?

Well, it is a long process. It takes hundreds of years.

It starts with the Crown granting land to loyal families,

families that have given them military service,

perhaps had served them in other ways, such as bastard sons, etc.

So land is given, granted as rewards.

But then, on top of that, when families built up power

and wealth, they would add land to their estates through purchase,

through marriage, through inheritance,

so it is a very dynastic process.

So, this map gives us a beautiful illustration...

'Annie has studied the papers of the Sutherland estate in particular.'

It was once the largest estate in Western Europe

and notorious for clearing crofters off their land to make way for sheep.

Like many big estates, it was not until the late 19th century

that their fortunes began to change.

Sheep farming was proving less profitable

and then, in the early 20th century,

along came reformer David Lloyd George

and his proposals for land tax, which caught the popular imagination.

In the 1909 People's Budget, he introduces an increase

in death duties and also a so-called super tax on the super-wealthy.

So there are financial implications from that budget but also,

it is more of the psychological impact.

Like many other estates in the early 20th century,

Sutherland began to sell off land.

But not to the common people.

Yes, indeed. Now, this is a brochure.

This is where you can see the marketing for the...

A beautiful sales brochure was put together to market the land as sporting estates.

It would appeal to the new wealthy industrialists.

It describes how there is just over 100,000 acres to be sold.

'This map laid out the options.'

Say you owned a nice run of mills in Paisley

and you wanted your own sporting estate,

you could come along to the offices of Knight, Frank and maybe decide

which one you would like to bid for at auction in London.

-In London?

-Indeed, in London.

-Not in Scotland? So it wasn't even sold off in Scotland,

-I would have to go London to...

-No, because the market is in London.

-Right.

-Yeah.

So that is where your stockbrokers live,

that's where your industrialists live.

So that is where the auctions take place.

Overseen by Knight, Frank, the great estate agents who made

an absolute fortune in this post-war period, it has to be said.

Many landed families lost men in the First World War

and with inheritance tax as high as 40%, estates had to sell off land.

Between 1918 and 1922,

a quarter of all land in the country changed hands.

But almost a century later,

a quarter of Scotland's biggest estates still remain

in the hands of families who have owned them for more than 400 years.

With fewer than 500 people controlling half of all privately-owned land.

To tackle this concentration of land ownership,

the government wants to double the amount of land

owned by communities from 500,000 acres to a million by 2020.

That would be around 5% of our land.

Euan is in South Lanarkshire, to visit one community keen to buy.

This is the village of Leadhills.

It's surrounded by grouse moors owned by Leadhills Estate.

In order to force a landowner to sell the land against their will,

a community would have to show that that landowner was blocking sustainable development.

And there are those that feel the village of Leadhills, behind me,

is the perfect example of how that legislation could be applied.

Pat Wilders is the chair of the Leadhills Community Company.

Why do you want to buy bits of that estate?

It's a lovely wee village, it's quite idyllic.

Yes, but there is no opportunity for employment

or training here for any of the residents

and we'd like to have a really good economic growth here.

And if we own the land, we can do that.

-Is that not happening at the moment?

-No.

It is only used for shooting

and the only thing that the estate has come up with is a wind farm.

We would like tourism, a little bit of agriculture, forestry, maybe.

Cottage industries

and then, affordable housing for the youngsters so they can stay here.

And that will all generate employment

and training opportunities.

Are there opportunities for tourism?

-Would people want to walk here?

-I think so,

because it's very beautiful if you go up on the hills.

-It's absolutely gorgeous.

-But why is that not happening?

Here we are in the village, surrounded by the great outdoors, why is it not happening?

Because it's for grouse shooting

and they don't really like a lot of people setting foot

and upsetting the grouse.

I can't put it any plainer than that,

but that is what happens.

-So, you're an island community, surrounded by grouse moor?

-Yes.

We are. Completely.

Pat clearly thinks that they could do a better job of managing the land than the estate.

But it can be difficult to make money

from large tracts of relatively infertile land

and some previous community buyouts have struggled to balance the books.

Landowners say it takes a lot of hard work, specialist expertise

and, quite often, a second income to keep an estate running successfully.

One man who knows a thing or two about the area

is the Leadhills estate manager, Donald Noble.

These are all miners' rows and each miner was basically given

an area of ground out on the surrounding hill.

And he believes the estate does contribute to the local economy.

It welcomes thousands of people every year on its paths and tracks,

walking, cycling, fishing.

It has the highest golf course in Scotland,

it's got a narrow gauge railway,

the highest one in Britain, actually.

And we work with these various groups and bodies to see

if we can develop more interesting tourist attractions on the place.

Is this kind of thing difficult for relations?

This is a small community, you're one estate.

Does it create a lot of friction?

I don't think so.

I meet with a lot of community groups

and we have very good relationships.

We are very accessible.

Clearly, there are some individuals that feel

that the estate is not contributing as much as it could do

and we want to address that as well.

Despite what the estate says, Leadhills Community Company are clear -

they still want to pursue the right to buy.

But until the new laws are implemented

and a few test cases go through,

it's hard to predict in what circumstances communities will be able to force the sale of land.

Most of the existing buyouts have happened in the north and the west,

and Dougie is heading there now in search of one.

Under the current legislation,

it isn't easy for communities to buy land.

Even buying from a willing seller,

it requires a lot of hard graft and form filling.

But many communities have done it and are reaping the benefits,

including one on the island of Mull.

I'm off to visit a community woodland which was bought

from the Forestry Commission by island residents back in 2006.

The Northwest Mull Community Woodland Company was established to buy

and then manage 700 hectares of woodland on the island.

-So, what are we seeing in front of us here, Malcolm?

-So, we're seeing...

'Malcolm Lord is the company's development manager.'

Forestry is a long-term proposition.

It is a sustainable proposition,

but the money does not come quickly from forestry.

Let's go right back to the very beginning, then.

Why did the community want to buy a woodland in the first place?

Well, it's just that.

Essentially to provide a sustainable proposition for the community as a whole.

The intention really being to create a lasting legacy

that future generations could then also benefit financially and socially from.

The company is managed by a board of seven directors

elected from and by the local community.

We have a voters' roll of 350 in this area

and more than half are members of the company itself,

so they all have a vote.

-Does that make things tricky, potentially?

-It can do.

Everyone has got their own opinion

and fortunately, for the most part, that is all positive

and...it's very much a help, you know,

everyone's your boss, quite rightly.

This stuff here, is this all recently felled?

The company has plans to sell housing plots,

build a micro-hydro scheme and even establish a woodland burial site.

They ship timber in bulk to the mainland

and also sell logs and woodchip on the island itself,

guaranteeing a secure supply for the hospital, amongst others.

Wow, look at that! That is a fair amount, isn't it?

We chip once a month.

The island has a requirement for wood fuel in various forms,

so it's a good means of making some cash.

The buyout is also providing opportunities for the wider community

to lease newly created affordable crofts

in this recently harvested woodland area.

I want to meet a young family who are set to benefit.

But to do that, I must summon the ferry over to the wee island of Ulva,

just over there, off Mull,

because that's where they're based right now.

On the other side of this narrow stretch of water

is a delightful little seafood cafe.

It's run by the Munro family.

They don't own it, though.

Instead, it is rented with no long-term guarantees.

'However, they've recently managed to secure one of the nine newly created crofts over on Mull.'

All the best, cheers.

'And are already making plans.'

Since we've had children,

we're looking for kind of longer-term security

and, unfortunately, we'll never have the opportunity

to buy or own anything here,

so when the forest crofts came up, it's an opportunity for us

to build something for the future and have some security.

Yeah. But leaving here, though, I would imagine

-would be a bit of a wrench as well, wouldn't it?

-Yeah, it would.

I grew up here as a child

and my father still does the boat after 20-odd years,

so it wouldn't be easy, but you've just got to think about the future.

-You've got to think about the wee fella here.

-Yeah.

-The wriggler.

-And his big sister as well. BOTH:

-Yeah.

And do you not think it's going to be quite difficult,

because you're obviously going to be giving up the business - is that not quite a concern,

or are you looking forward to the prospect of the future?

We're excited for the challenge.

We've kind of... We've... We've been doing this a while,

we've made it successful, so...

And if we start again somewhere else,

-we know what we're doing now. When we started here, we didn't.

-No, we didn't have a clue.

-No.

-So, there's a lot of potential in the croft to

do something maybe not similar, but... I don't know...

-Something a bit different.

-Something a bit different.

A few hours later, on mainland Mull,

Rhuri and the family take me to see the site of their new croft -

the place where they are investing all their hopes and dreams.

At the moment, it looks like a battlefield.

-It does look a bit...

-Yeah.

-..desolate.

It's a long way to go, that's for sure.

But there's a big incentive to take this on.

The rent is less than £150 a year and the lease is totally secure.

Their kids will even be able to inherit it.

A much more affordable model than other options.

What are land prices like on Mull, are they pretty expensive?

You're looking at just a house plot with a small garden, 80,000.

So you think, yeah, we could probably get that, get the house bought,

then you've got to build a house after that, so you just think, is it feasible?

It's a problem all over the country, it's not just Mull. So, er...

this seemed like a good opportunity and a good adventure,

but we're only just beginning the adventure.

Five years' time,

come back and you'll shake my hand and be really impressed.

It's a deal.

And we wish the Munro family well

with their mammoth task of clearing this site.

I've been impressed with the ambition of the folk here on Mull

and what they've achieved so far.

They bought the woodland from a willing seller.

Of course, under the new proposals,

landowners could be forced to sell their land against their will.

Unsurprisingly, that's causing a lot of concern amongst landowners,

including the very largest, the Duke of Buccleuch.

Euan has more.

The Scottish Government has been quite clear -

they want to diversify land ownership throughout Scotland.

And in a sense that could make the Duke of Buccleuch

public enemy number one, being the country's biggest landowner,

owning around a quarter of a million acres.

And just to ram that point home,

I've been driving for about an hour now

and I think for most of that time,

I've been driving through Buccleuch land.

But is big necessarily bad?

'John Glen, the chief executive of Buccleuch, doesn't think so.

'He's showing me an opencast coal mine

'on one of the Buccleuch estates.'

Wow. This is a beast.

When the operator went bust, Buccleuch stepped in and worked with

other bodies to keep the mine operating, securing 60 jobs.

Longer term, they have plans to transform this area

into an energy park, guaranteeing more jobs.

John argues the size of Buccleuch

makes developments like this possible.

Ownership comes with responsibility.

And landowners have to be responsible, they have to be

prepared, so there's a lot to be welcomed in the direction

of travel in the land form, in terms of identifying who landowners are,

making them actually think about what they're doing with that

and engaging with communities about

what are the choices that could be made, and this is an example.

So, I think that's all very positive.

My experience is that the majority of landowners actually

would like and are trying to do the right thing.

Let the radicals on the land ownership side dominate the debate,

you could end up with the wrong solution.

Just down the road, on the site of another former coal mine,

is a landscape art project designed by renowned artist Charles Jencks.

He came up here and he just fell in love.

He said, "I'd like to do one of my artworks."

'Duke Richard, the 10th Duke of Buccleuch,

'funded the development, with the hope it would draw in visitors.'

The Scottish Government have said they want to increase

diversity in land ownership in Scotland.

Do you welcome that, or where do you sit on that?

Why do they want that?

I mean, I pose the question because it seems to me

that that's not the immediate issue that we've got to grapple with.

I can understand that there are people who don't like

the idea of big landowners like us, and never will,

and they will want to change it, and I accept that.

But what worries me is that this precious legislative time

is not really addressing the issues about what we DO with the land

and how we can work better in partnership.

In fact, it muddies the waters because it's so divisive.

To me, the absolute priority is getting land ownership

that delivers change in how we use the land.

I think big landowners have a part to play.

In fact, there are lots of smaller landowners,

but big landowners with big projects like this

are the only people who have got the long-term commitment

and the resources to make changes like this happen.

'While many people feel it's wrong for one man to own

'a quarter of a million acres,

'the current proposals would do little to change that,

'with no limits proposed on who can own land, or how much.

'Other countries have much stricter laws - as Sarah found out.'

Norway has one of the most regulated land markets in the world,

with controls over who can own land, what they can do with it

and how much they can own.

'Kristin Ianssen is the vice president of the farmers' union in Norway.

'She's also a pig farmer, but because of health restrictions

'this is the closest I can get to her pigs.'

It's hard not to say, "Aww," when you see a little pig, isn't it?

-They are very nice.

-Very cute.

-Yeah, I like my work.

'After a quick change, Kristin gives me

'a lesson in local land laws.'

First of all, it's the oldest child has the best right to buy

the farm from its parents, at a reduced price.

A farmer has to live on the farm

and it has to make sure that all the land is farmed.

It's limited how big you can become -

I mean, you're only allowed to buy farmland

to farm, not an investment.

So it's...

The government can decide that you're not allowed to buy

any more land because this farm is big enough.

But can you make a good living being a farmer?

Yes. I would say that a good farmer, a clever farmer

earns money and has a good living,

because we have regulated prices and a regulated market

to make sure that we are able to farm.

'Norwegian farming is heavily subsidised

'and its produce is protected by high duties on foreign imports.'

Why are these values,

why is the system so important to Norwegians?

I think Norwegians

are aware that we need to produce

some of our own food and as much as we can.

On the other hand, it's also important for Norwegians to know

that we control the land

and that we, erm...

keep the Norwegian ownership on our resources.

The average size of a farm in Norway is almost 60 acres,

which is relatively small by Scottish standards.

And driving around the countryside, you do get a sense of

the limits of the law that cap the size a farm can be.

For instance, from this point alone, I can see...

six farms

and everything is so neat and structured.

Now I'm heading north from Oslo to find out how the regulations

make land affordable.

Lila and Petar Jensen have just bought a small farm.

-Hello.

-Hi...

'Petar and Lila are friends of rural development expert John Bryden,

'who's introducing me.'

-I'd love a look around, can we go and see the farm?

-Oh, yeah. We'll show you round.

How easy was it for you to buy land?

Well, it was lucky that we had a house

in an area where it was easy to sell, so we could buy the farm.

'And Petar thinks the younger generation

'could easily afford to buy too.'

I can give you an example. There was a farm just north of here,

20 minutes from a fairly large town by Norwegian standards.

It was sold for 140,000 British pounds

and the size was four hectares of cultivated land

and 14 hectares of forest, beautifully located by a lake.

So, a young couple would have no problem buying that.

Unless they are related to the owner, farm buyers in Norway

must obtain what's called a concession from the local authority.

John, who has lived in Norway for seven years,

thinks that has benefits.

The municipality will take the decision

based on a number of criteria,

including the effect on prices, the effect on the local community,

whether you're qualified to farm, so on and so forth,

so it's quite a complicated and thorough process,

which cuts down speculative purchase of land

and anyone who's just holding it as an asset, you know,

and, therefore, it cuts the price, of course,

and makes it more accessible to people.

So, having obviously researched, you know...

I mean, obviously, knowing what's going on in Scotland

at the moment and I appreciate it's a very broad brush,

but what could Scotland learn from this model?

Well, I think they could learn that, you know,

people CAN have access to smallholdings like this,

small farms, and they can do something interesting with it.

It opens up the market, as it were,

to young people with ideas

and I think that's a very good thing.

It's been so interesting travelling around the country

and learning about a different model of land ownership.

I think it would be impossible to suddenly apply the rules

found here in Norway to Scotland, even if it WAS considered desirable.

But what I've found fascinating is that controls

which would be considered radical, extreme at home,

are considered totally commonplace here.

The Scottish Government says they think...

It also seems possible that this bill will just be

the first step in a continuing programme of land reform.

A process that has the potential to change lives in rural Scotland

and beyond.