Scheme launched to explore how to help communities move quickly for local assets

A PILOT project has been agreed exploring how to assist communities who want to own local assets but struggle to raise funds quickly enough when properties come on to the market.

The scheme involves Crown Estate Scotland – which owns land and virtually all of Scotland’s seabed out to 12 nautical miles – and the Scottish Government agency, Scottish Land Commission.

Called the ‘Community Land Accelerator’, the aim of the collaboration – says the Commission (here) – is “to design and pilot the approach and we hope to learn from this to help inform what others can also do”.

Crown Estate Scotland (as noted, here) owns virtually all seabed out to 12 nautical miles, just under half the foreshore, four rural estates comprising 37,000 hectares of rural land, rights to fish wild salmon and sea trout in river and coastal areas, rights to naturally-occurring gold and silver across most of Scotland, a commercial retail and office property in central Edinburgh, and the Zero-Four innovation park near Montrose in the Scottish Borders.

It belongs to the monarch but its net profits go to the Scottish Government.

Adds Crown Estate Scotland (here): “If design and pilot of the Accelerator is successful, roll-out will see us acquire land and assets on an interim basis, with the aim of selling them at market value to a community body once it had raised the funds.

“The type and scale of assets which might be involved is not yet clear, and progress will depend on availability of capital and other factors.”

Picture credit: Place Design Scotland

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