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Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee 03 February 2016

03 Feb 2016 · S4 · Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee

Item of business

Land Reform (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Harvie, Patrick Green Glasgow Watch on SPTV

As a non-member of the committee, I did not ask to speak to the previous group of amendments, but I endorse many of the arguments that members made about the issue. It is certainly an issue that I recognise from Glasgow. The amendments in this group are related to the previous group and seek to address some of the same concerns, albeit that they do so in a different way. Sarah Boyack described her proposal as something that would, perhaps, be used as a last resort. This proposal might be more of a first incentive in relation to the same issue—vacant and derelict land and buildings. When I come to the committee to move amendments, I always do so in a spirit of hopefulness. In this instance, I think that there is some cause for hopefulness, because some of what this group of amendments tries to do is very much in keeping with aspects of the Government’s agenda. First, I will speak to amendment 131, because it concerns something that the Scottish Government has already taken some action on—or has, at least, indicated its intention to act on—in relation to unoccupied industrial land and buildings. The local government finance settlement makes it clear that the Government proposes to reform reliefs of empty industrial properties, which will, in effect, mean that those properties will be treated in the same way as empty retail properties. The Federation of Small Businesses has welcomed the Government’s proposals and noted that by reducing the amount of property relief, landlords would have an incentive to drop rents and to invest in their properties, thereby making them more attractive to potential tenants. I welcome the steps that the Scottish Government has taken in that area. Amendment 131 would simply lock that in for the future. Of course, all Governments hope that they will be in power for all time, but that will not necessarily be the case, so I hope that the Government is willing to support amendment 131 to ensure that its own policy is given a statutory basis, and to give a clear signal that it will be a long-term provision. Amendment 133 is consequential on amendment 131. Amendment 129 takes the same principle as amendment 131 and extends it to vacant and derelict land. From the many instances that we discussed in relation to the previous group of amendments, we can all recognise that the reality is that there are, in our constituencies and regions, many examples of land that could be put to better use by bringing it back on to the valuation roll and making sure that the owners of that land have a financial incentive to put it to use, to invest in it or—should they not wish to put it to use themselves—to dispose of it at a fair price. I think that that would be an important step towards eradicating some of the perverse incentives that currently exist. For example, there are situations in which owners of land have an incentive to demolish the buildings that are on that land so that it, in effect, ceases to show up on the valuation roll. As far as I understand it, there is not an explicit exemption for vacant and derelict land, and it is more a question of case law that has been on-going for centuries. I think that we have arrived at a situation at which we would not have arrived by design. Amendment 129 and amendment 130, which is consequential on it, are intended to rectify that situation. I am told by the legislation team that there might be a requirement for some modification to other aspects of the bill as a result of agreement to them, but my understanding is that the bill already gives ministers a general power, so I have not included that as a specific aspect of the amendments. I move amendment 129.

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Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee 03 February 2016

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