Register of persons holding a controlled interest in land
The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 requires Scottish Ministers to make regulations for a new public register of controlling interests in land owners and tenants. We ran a consultation entitled improving transparency in land ownership in Scotland: a consultation on controlling interests in land in late 2016, and published the consultation analysis in June 2017.
On 20 June 2018 we laid before the Scottish Parliament the proposed draft regulations and an accompanying proposed explanatory document sets out proposals in detail under an enhanced affirmative process. Between June and November 2018 we ran a consultation entitled “Delivering improved transparency in land ownership in Scotland: consultation on draft regulations”, and published independent analysis on 3 April 2019. See an overview of the consultation and agreed responses to be published.
On 23 January 2020 we laid before the Scottish Parliament the proposed draft regulations and accompanying explanatory document for a second time, as required under the enhanced affirmative process.
On 17 December 2020 we laid before the Scottish Parliament the proposed draft regulations and accompanying explanatory document and impact assessments for a third time. The regulations were unanimously passed by the Scottish Parliament on 10 February 2021, marking a significant step towards delivering greater transparency of land ownership. The register became operational on 1 April 2022. It is held by Registers of Scotland, and further information on the register is available from Registers of Scotland.
The purpose of the register is to improve transparency about land ownership by making information about those who have a controlling interest in land publicly available – those who ultimately make decisions about the management or use of land, even if they are not necessarily registered as the owner of the land.
On 23 January 2023 we laid before the Scottish Parliament proposed draft regulations and an accompanying policy note setting out proposals to amend The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016 (Register of Persons Holding a Controlled Interest in Land) Regulations 2021. The purpose of the instrument is to amend the 2021 Regulations to extend the transitional period in respect of the offence provisions by 12 months from 1 April 2023 to 1 April 2024. Parliament unanimously approved the SSI on 16 March 2023, meaning that those in scope of the RCI now have until 1 April 2024 to register before the offence provisions for non-compliance take effect.