Community right to buy review: consultation - easy read
The Community Right to Buy, introduced in Scotland in 2003, has empowered rural, urban, and crofting communities to acquire land and assets. We are consulting as part of a review aimed at simplifying the process and exploring improvements.
Closed
This consultation closed 5 October 2025.
View this consultation on consult.gov.scot, including responses once published.
Community rights to buy – the current system
A law called the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced 2 rights to buy. One gives community groups the first chance to buy land when it goes up for sale.
The other right means crofting communities can apply for compulsory purchase. Crofting communities can be different but they are sometimes a group of people living and working on small pieces of land. They are mainly in the north and west of Scotland.
Compulsory purchase means the owner of land or property must sell it to the community. It will be used for projects that will benefit the public instead.
These rights were expanded to include abandoned and neglected land. The rights now also apply to land that will be used for sustainable development. Sustainable development means making the land useful without damaging it for future generations.
Contact
Email: crtbreview@gov.scot