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Landlords blighting rural areas, report says

A NEW report from Community Land Scotland (CLS) highlights the negative effects of the monopoly on rural land ownership north of the border.

The report – Scoping the classic effects of monopolies within concentrated patterns of rural land ownership – is the second in a series, Land and the Common Good, by the group and outlines the negative effects that private landlords can have on communities. 

Written by Heriot Watt University’s Professor Mike Danson, the report found large-scale monopoly landownership is basically inefficient, encouraging outward migration and restricting prosperity.

Professor Danson argues that new laws and policies are necessary to achieve a more diverse pattern of land ownership, accommodating sustainable development in economic, environmental and social terms – all in the public interest.

This follows the launch of CLS’s manifesto for next year’s Holyrood election, which calls for the introduction of a new land reform act, giving the state power to stop the sale of large estates and to break up existing land monopolies. 

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