Wild Land News no 59, Winter 2003/2004

Who owns Scotland? Article

It was in 1996 that Andy Wightman published his book Who Owns Scotland, in which he identified the ownership of some 65% of Scotland and explored the complex power structures that derive from the ownership of land. Since then, Labour has taken over from the Tories at Westminster, the Scottish Parliament has been established and a range of land reform measures are in place for Scotland. The feudal system has been abolished, the right of access to all land is to be enshrined in law and wider community ownership of land is to be facilitated.

Yet despite this trend towards recognition of the public interest in the land resource, the Scottish Executive seems reluctant to improve public access to information about land ownership. The subject is often shrouded in secrecy, and for anyone wishing to find out just who owns what, a visit to the archives in Edinburgh is usually necessary together with one-to-one assistance from specialist staff.

So Andy Wightman has started afresh, this time taking advantage of the advances in information technology since 1996. Under the auspices of the Caledonian Centre for Social Development he has embarked on another project, again entitled Who Owns Scotland. A web-site has been established and this time the target is to identify ownership of 75% of Scotland, with the information freely available over the internet.

The project has been running since 2001, and so far the ownership of more than 6 million acres is published on the web-site, representing 37% of the privately owned rural land in Scotland across seven counties, mainly in the Highlands. Over 90% of ownership in Nairn and Sutherland has been identified, with over two-thirds in the remaining five counties. Kincardine and East Lothian are next on the list for inclusion, and an Ordnance Survey map-based system has been implemented for navigating the site.

A perfectly legal tax dodge

Although far from complete, the project came under the spotlight last October when the Sunday Herald newspaper exposed the perfectly legal means by which large landowners are able to dodge tax, under the anachronistic system of beneficial ownership. Much of the 3-page investigation was based on Andy Wightman's research, which has shown that it can be impossible to trace the true identities of the actual owners of huge chunks of Scotland who lurk behind nominee companies based in offshore tax havens.

Such companies can deal in British land and property without paying a penny in tax, while simultaneously receiving handouts of taxpayers' money in the form of development grants. This system is exploited by many large estates, while a further 2.5 million acres (13.1% of Scotland) is held in private trusts which allow the owners to avoid capital gains and inheritance taxes and stamp duty.

According to the study, an estimated £72m is lost annually to the Treasury through offshore ownership of rural Scotland alone. The figure would be much higher for the whole of Scotland, and for the entire UK would run into billions of pounds. If this sort of money were being lost through, say, benefit fraud, the Government would put on a public show of strength to bring the offenders to heel. But with characteristic British deference to landed power, any such toughness dissolves and no-one in authority shows serious interest in stemming the haemorrhage.

Clean energy - "dirty" profits

Although much of this is beyond the scope of SWLG's campaigning remit, we are well aware that wealthy individuals or corporations holding land primarily as an investment or tax dodge are unlikely to be the best custodians of our heritage. It was interesting that the same edition of the Sunday Herald carried an article about the "dirty" profits from clean energy. Highland Council has produced a document complaining of "super profits" going to the developers of renewable energy schemes, and demanding a levy to re-direct far more of the gains into local communities.

The document states "Energy companies and landowners should share with communities the profits they reap from the Highlands' natural resources to generate power". Perhaps the key word here is "landowners". The landowner per se makes no contribution - not even the most presumptuous landowner would claim the credit for the way the wind blows over Scotland - yet he happily reaps the benefit in enhanced land values.

We have long had our suspicions about the readiness of some landowners to open their doors to renewable energy companies. We have also noticed in general that when our wild land heritage is threatened by inappropriate development, the proposals are usually driven by the promise of hefty profits to landowning interests, often from outside. Land-use patterns are undoubtedly distorted by the promise of financial gain to landowners.

Renewable energy projects are just the tip of the iceberg - a relatively new and currently high-profile example of the way land values are enhanced as a result of social and economic trends. Land has no cost of production, and its value is simply a scarcity value reflecting public demand for a finite resource to which we all have an equal right.

Highland Council's proposal is for a levy of £5000 per megawatt instead of the small goodwill handouts currently on offer to communities. As the developers point out, however, the idea of a blanket charge is fairly crude as it takes no account of the fact that some locations are more productive and therefore more valuable than others. Nevertheless, the Council's awareness of the underlying principle is encouraging, but the same logic needs to be applied to all aspects of land use. Land values are generated by the needs and activities of society as a whole, and it is society as a whole that should reap the benefits, not the individual landowners.

But first we need to know who all the landowners are - we really do need to find out Who Owns Scotland.

For more information, go to www.whoownsscotland.org.uk.

The SWLG has donated £100 to the project. Members wishing to do so can use the online form on the web-site or send a cheque payable to Caledonia Centre for Social Development to Andy Wightman, 9 Inverleith Terrace, EDINBURGH, EH3 5NS.