THE LIBERAL Democrats will set out a blueprint for land reform in Scotland – pressing a case for replacing council tax and supporting population growth in rural areas.
The plans will be set out on Friday at the party’s Scottish conference – when a debate will be held on plans for land reform aimed at boosting rural communities.
The Lib Dems says rural parts of Scotland have been neglected by the Scottish Government for a focus on the Central Belt.
The party has pointed to figures showing the Scottish Government has built less than half of the homes it promised to construct in rural areas and islands four years after a £30 million fund was announced.
The Rural and Island Housing Funds was intended to deliver up to 600 homes between 2016 and 2021, but only 203 have been approved.
READ MORE: SNP accused of ‘massaging’ figures to boost rural housing progress
The conference will consider proposals from the Highland Liberal Democrats ahead of May’s Holyrood election.
The plans would replace property-based council tax with a locally administered land value tax, with the Lib Dems claiming this would encouraging a more proportional system of taxation and fairer use of land.
The Lib Dems also want to set up a ‘first time builders fund’ which it says would support population growth in rural areas that lack housing stock and expand the Scottish Land Fund to facilitate further community ownership across Scotland.
Proposals will also be discussed to require public bodies to consult with rural and remote communities to make sure Scottish legislation is "rural proof".
READ MORE: Scottish Lib Dems draw up five-point blueprint for federal UK
Scottish Liberal Democrat land reform spokesperson and Caithness, Sutherland and Ross candidate, Molly Nolan said: “Scotland still has one of the most concentrated land ownership patterns in the world, with over half of Scotland’s rural land owned by just 432 landowners.
“The Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated the housing crisis affecting Scottish communities, particularly in the Highlands and Islands, where demand for housing has soared.”
She added: “Reforming land ownership, usage and taxation in Scotland will contribute to a fairer society and a fairer economy. The Scottish Government’s existing land reform policies do not go far enough to ensure that young people and families are supported to remain in their communities in adulthood.
“Too often the SNP have been a Government for the Central Belt. It’s time to put the residents of rural Scotland back in charge of our destiny. I hope that conference will back my proposals to make that happen.”
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