The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill proposes amending Part 2 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 which will enable certain bodies to buy abandoned or neglected land and to make such land work for the benefit of the community.

The Bill will allow communities to identify any public sector land or buildings that they feel they could make better use of with a view to strengthening community participation, community empowerment and encouraging community development.

There will also be new duties for community planning so that public sector agencies are able to work as one to deliver better outcomes for local communities.

The existing community right to buy will be streamlined and extended to cover all parts of Scotland, both urban areas and larger rural towns. For the first time this will give urban communities in Scotland the same rights as rural communities. It is the Scottish Government's intention to have 1 million acres in community ownership by 2020.

It is also intended that legislation will be updated and simplified to support local authorities' provision and management of allotments. This will include councils providing sites triggered by actual demand and protecting allotment sites from closure. In addition the local authority will be under a duty to keep waiting lists below a specified target.

Councils will also be given new powers to deal with defective and dangerous buildings, and to provide local relief schemes on business rates.

Please feel free to contact our community regeneration team for any additional information.