The Scottish Green Party (SGP) has put forward amendments to the Scottish Government's Land Reform Bill.

The proposals include a requirement to bring the country's 11,000 hectares of vacant and derelict land into the valuation system to be taxed.

The resulting revenue would then be 'ring fenced' for housebuilding.

With the SGP stating the move would yield around £300 million a year, the party believes these amendments would toughen the legislation.

In addition, the Scottish Greens proposals would stop any land ownership in Scotland by companies and trusts not based in the EU, thereby tackling tax avoidance.

Andy Wightman, Land Reform spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, said: "There's a housing crisis in Scotland and many of us will know of a piece of derelict land near us that could be home. It's not right that wealthy developers who hold on to land that could be used for houses aren't required to pay any tax on it. This blockage pushes up the cost of land elsewhere, pushing house prices and rents out of the reach of many.


"Over half of Scotland's most deprived communities are within 500 metres of vacant and derelict land, so the opportunity to tackle inequality using the Land Reform Bill is clear. By amending the Bill, Scotland can tax owners of derelict land, encourage productive use of that land, and bring in much-needed revenue for housebuilding. Scotland can unlock the huge potential in our land but we need Holyrood to be bold."

The amendment on EU legislation will be discussed by the Rural Affairs Committee on 20 January, while the vacant land amendment is due later this month.

Mr Wightman added: "Improving transparency is vital to understanding who benefits from our land. The government’s refusal to include an EU registration clause in the Bill is deeply disappointing.

"Our amendment would put a stop to all further landownership by secretive companies in tax havens. By confining ownership to EU-registered companies we can ensure that moves being made in Europe to tackle laundering and secrecy are much more effective since, to date, many secrecy jurisdictions have refused to co-operate. That has to be better than the status quo."

(LM/CD)