What’s missing?
Although discussed by agents, the passage of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2025 seems to have had a minimal impact on the market. Agents report that the Act is not driving a “rush” of new sales, but may instead hasten disposals by owners who were already planning to exit within the next few years. The vast majority of land sales are below 1,000ha and would not be affected by the measures in the Act.
In 2024 land acquisition by renewable energy developers was a significant and unexpected theme, one which is largely missing in the reporting for 2025. It is unclear why this is the case.
Agents noted that housing developers were again largely absent from the market. Given the nature of housebuilding, this suggest that house builders currently have enough land banked for the future. The lack of new land acquisitions also implies that existing land is not being used up and therefore that houses are not being built at the same pace and volume as seen in previous years.
