Identifying Decision-Makers Behind Land Ownership In Scotland

Land reform is high on the Scottish Government's agenda, and transparency of land ownership is one of the main areas of focus. The Scottish Government believes that as a matter of public policy it is important to know who controls and benefits from Scottish land. The legal owner of land or buildings can be ascertained by looking at the property registers. However, at present those registers do not necessarily show who actually controls and makes decisions about the land or buildings. For example, if the legal owner is an overseas entity, a trust or a partnership, you cannot tell from looking at the existing property registers who is in control of the legal owner.  

Draft regulations (Regulations) were introduced by the Scottish Government last summer to implement the creation of a new public Scottish register: the Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land (RCI). A consultation on the Regulations took place last year, a parliamentary committee