5. Transforming the use of land data
A key barrier to delivering reforms and to effective decision-making in the land sector is the lack of joined-up information on land use, value and ownership. Not only is better access to information seen as a basic matter of transparency, it is also needed to deliver government’s policy ambitions for land and public service reform.
The desirable outcome is a joined-up and accessible land data system that empowers citizens, provides sound evidence to inform public policy and land use, and realises the public value of land data for a wide range of uses.
Through ScotLand Futures we heard:
- The lack of a complete Land Register continues to hamper individuals, businesses and communities at a local level from maximising land opportunities.
- There is support across all sectors and interests in land for improvements to the collation, analysis, and availability of land data to support well informed policy, effective land management decisions and transparency in ownership.
Wider evidence and experience shows:
- Scotland and the UK are unusual in the lack of joined-up land data. While plenty of land data exists, it is held across government, public bodies, agencies, and local authorities, all with different approaches to collection, collation, maintenance, and formatting.
- International experience shows in comparable countries it is common to have modern digital cadastral systems that combine full land ownership data with planning records and tax valuations, in a single accessible place.
- While the Land Register is ‘functionally complete’ this accounts for properties that transfer regularly, which only covers around 60% of Scotland’s landmass.19 This means that details on land that hasn’t changed hands for decades or longer, such as large estates or derelict industrial sites, can be hard to find.
- Monitoring and reporting on land transactions using existing data is a time consuming and resource intensive process that comes with extensive caveats.20
Key steps to develop:
- Improving access to land ownership information and landowner contact details, building on work to complete the Land Register and making Sasines data as accessible as possible.
- A programme to develop an integrated cadastral data system, working across public bodies that would provide full ownership information and use existing data sets to join up information about land.
Establishing a national land data research and analytical service for land information that monitors ongoing land market activity for wider public and policy purposes.
