Rural Land Market Insights Report published

SRUC have today (24 June) published the third instalment of the Rural Land Market Insights Report series with the Scottish Land Commission (SLC).

This year's report draws on in-depth interviews with 17 land agents from a range of sectors (agriculture, forestry and estates) operating across Scotland. The interviews highlighted a year of challenges and growing caution in the Scottish land market.

This is the third year of the Rural Land Market Insights series, and some patterns are beginning to emerge. The 2022 report (covering the 2021 land market, found here) showed a strong interest in natural capital driving land prices up. The 2023 report (covering the 2022 market, found here) saw caution entering the market and this year's report confirms this trend. 

Understanding activity and trends in the Scottish land market is crucial to maintain an accurate picture of landownership, buyer and seller motivations. Combining the results of this years report with previous work helps to form a long-term narrative of rural land market activity in Scotland, which is useful to identify emerging trends and inform policy decisions, particularly around the land reform agenda. 

Topics covered in the interviews include:

• Overall impressions of the market
• Supply and demand dynamics
• Farmland market
• Forestry sector
• Land for natural capital schemes
• Estates Market
• Other buyers: renewables developers and house builders

For more information you can read the full report here.