100 signatures reached
To: Aileen McLeod, the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform
We need the Scottish Government to fulfil their promises on transparency of land ownership
We ask the Minister to bring in full and detailed provisions, which will specify:
- that the public register will apply to all land in Scotland – and not just to new registrations
- that the register will be freely accessible
- the timetable for completing the new Register of persons who control land
- the definition of ‘control’ to include persons linked by legal relationships and family membership
- who will implement the new provisions and
- what will the sanctions be for non-compliance by owners (eg the Registrar should refuse to register new applications and should de-register existing titles)
- that the public register will apply to all land in Scotland – and not just to new registrations
- that the register will be freely accessible
- the timetable for completing the new Register of persons who control land
- the definition of ‘control’ to include persons linked by legal relationships and family membership
- who will implement the new provisions and
- what will the sanctions be for non-compliance by owners (eg the Registrar should refuse to register new applications and should de-register existing titles)
Why is this important?
After long resisting the call to make land ownership transparent in Scotland, the Scottish Government has finally said that it will make provision for ‘a public register of persons who control land in Scotland’ – but the details remain unspecified and, with the Holyrood parliamentary session ending on 23 March, there may be no time to review or amend the proposals.
We need the Scottish Government to fulfil their belated promises on transparency of land ownership.
In 1617, James VI of Scotland (& I of England) brought in the Register of Sasines Act to counter fraud in land transactions by creating a register of title to record who had sold what to whom, but today in Scotland – four hundred years later - the owners of at least 3.45 million acres (22.1% of all rural land) cannot be identified, largely because the owners shelter behind nominees, many registered in offshore jurisdictions (eg the British Virgin Islands).
It is clear that the prime reason for concealing ownership is to avoid tax (eg Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Inheritance Tax) and to ‘launder’ ill-gotten cash.
Parliamentary committees (and the SNP 2015 Conference) have urged the Government to make radical improvements to the law and ensure transparency in land title, so that the people of Scotland can know who owns Scotland.
But the Government resisted all changes to its Land Reform Bill until mid-February, when the Minister relented and stated that she would be making provision for ‘the creation of a public register of persons who control land in Scotland’ so that they could no longer ‘hide behind obscure company titles or trust arrangements.’
The belated conversion of the Minister is welcome, but it may come too late to implement the measures in full before Holyrood breaks up on 23 March.
We are now very short of time and we need to get it right in this Parliamentary Session: a four hundred year delay is enough!
We need the Scottish Government to fulfil their belated promises on transparency of land ownership.
In 1617, James VI of Scotland (& I of England) brought in the Register of Sasines Act to counter fraud in land transactions by creating a register of title to record who had sold what to whom, but today in Scotland – four hundred years later - the owners of at least 3.45 million acres (22.1% of all rural land) cannot be identified, largely because the owners shelter behind nominees, many registered in offshore jurisdictions (eg the British Virgin Islands).
It is clear that the prime reason for concealing ownership is to avoid tax (eg Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Inheritance Tax) and to ‘launder’ ill-gotten cash.
Parliamentary committees (and the SNP 2015 Conference) have urged the Government to make radical improvements to the law and ensure transparency in land title, so that the people of Scotland can know who owns Scotland.
But the Government resisted all changes to its Land Reform Bill until mid-February, when the Minister relented and stated that she would be making provision for ‘the creation of a public register of persons who control land in Scotland’ so that they could no longer ‘hide behind obscure company titles or trust arrangements.’
The belated conversion of the Minister is welcome, but it may come too late to implement the measures in full before Holyrood breaks up on 23 March.
We are now very short of time and we need to get it right in this Parliamentary Session: a four hundred year delay is enough!
