Community Land Scotland (CLS) is a charity and membership organisation for community landowners and aspiring community landowners. Founded in 2010, it represents the interests of community landowners and promotes legislation that empowers communities. The membership manages approximately 560,000 acres of land in Scotland, home to approximately 25,000 people.
The organisation aims to help communities take control of their land to build wealth and to improve local economic prospects and resilience. CLS supports diverse groups at all stages of the asset ownership journey and collaborates with strategic partners across the voluntary, public and corporate sectors.
Issues going into 2026 general election campaign
CLS lists the main issues facing all our communities such as housing shortages and depopulation, climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, a cost-of-living emergency, deepening inequality, and rising political disillusionment. These are all significant issues facing Scotland and its people. CLS propose to tackle the huge issue of land reform and community ownership with the aim of improving resilience that will lead to more vibrant and prosperous communities across the country.
Land ownership in Scotland
The traditional image of land ownership in Scotland is one of a tweed-clad laird with their wealthy friends, hunting, shooting and fishing on a sprawling heather covered moors. Who Owns Scotland website reports that half of Scotland’s rural land is owned by just 432 landowners. This is thought to be the most unequal land ownership in the western world and that Scottish land ownership is characterised by a ‘significant concentration’ of land in few hands.
CLS believe that this situation must change to bring about more community ownership, and to end the abuse of absentee landlords who hold sway over local communities and leads to local people leaving the land to seek employment in towns and cities elsewhere. In 2025, communities in Scotland owned approximately 213,803 hectares of land, about 2.7% of the total land area. However, this is an increase on previous years, with the area of community-owned land growing by 28% in the year to January 2025.
New Parliament – new solutions?
The Scottish election next year will undoubtedly bring new faces into the new Parliament. This could mean that new ideas will be brought to the table, and this may, in turn pave the way to an increase in community ownership with more solutions developed by local people for their own benefit.
CLS’s manifesto launch is both far reaching and timely
All that remains is for candidates to take these ideas on board and explain to the voting public what they will do to address the various concerns expressed by CLS, and how they would be implemented in the constituency they are hoping to represent. The issues are clear and well documented, so the political parties and their candidates now need to explain how to resolve these concerns, now and in future.
The Community Land Scotland’s manifesto can be read in full under the following link.
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