12. Community landownership

Scotland

It pains Labour to admit it, but there is one social- democratic party in the UK that’s still on a winning streak after 15 years in power. Whatever the objections to the SNP’s separatism and decidedly mixed social policy record, it’s worth asking: what are the progressive ideas that have sustained this extraordinary run?

Land reform is one, which is relatively easy for Labour to swallow as the first steps came when it was still in charge. A “community right-to-buy” was created in 2003, giving interested rural populations of up to 10,000 a right of first refusal on local lands coming up for sale, plus stronger rights for compulsory purchase, specifically for crofters. The SNP has radically extended things. In 2015, it removed the population cap, opening the possibility of reform in the cities, and empowered communities to snap up neglected property even if it didn’t have a willing seller. A 2016 law gave community trusts the right to force a sale on land needed for “sustainable development.” Grants lubricate the system.

Guy Shrubsole, author of Who Owns England?, says such reforms could make a “huge difference” in England. Here, there is only a hollow Cameron- era community “right-to-bid,” with no protection against being gazumped. Combined with planning reform that privileges community-owned land, a proper right-to-buy could also unlock the discussion on housebuilding, by ensuring the gains were widely shared. And it would empower villagers exposed to flooding by the grouse-shooting moors on the hillsides above them to force landowners to the table—a progressive way of “taking back control.” ♦