Greater security for tenants

Some 200 residents of Lorne Street in Edinburgh were warned earlier this year by their landlord, The Agnes Hunter Trust, that it intended to sell their flats, on the grounds of high maintenance costs. Many on the street have been living there for decades and grew up there and stand to lose not just a home but a community. The residents have approached Edinburgh City Council asking for help to establish a tenants’ cooperative. Sharon Quigley, who lives in the community with her 81-year-old mother, said,“We've lived in different flats in this area owned by the trust since 1989. These are our homes and this is our community. My mum is too old to move now. I provide care for her and support for my neighbours and my neighbours do the same for us.” Campaigners point out that in many other countries properties could only be sold if the tenant was allowed to remain in their home under the new landlord.

Rights for tenant farmers

Later this month, Andrew Stoddart, a tenant farmer stands to be evicted from his farm at Colstoun Mains, land he has worked on for over 22 years, and has developed by over £500,000. This Tuesday campaigners will gather outside the Scottish Parliament in support of Stoddart and other Colstoun Mains tenant farmers who are facing imminent eviction from their landlord. Campaigners see Colstoun Mains as symbolic of a wider need for land reform. The Land Reform Bill does not give tenant farmers the right to buy their farms.

Land registered in tax havens

In September, a group of Our Land campaigners gathered in Leith at the site of the failed Waterfront development to protest at the fact the land is registered in a tax haven. The land was acquired for over £3 million in 2008 and, following the financial crash, was sold to Sapphire Land Ltd., registered in the British Virgin Islands for £327,916 in 2012. The British Virgin Islands is designated a “secrecy jurisdiction” so no information is available about who controls the company. The 100 per cent exemption on non-domestic rates on derelict land means that companies can sit on land without having to pay tax. Campaigners would like to see that axed.