7. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its consideration of the Scottish Land Commission’s work on compulsory sales orders and land value capture. (S6O-02494)

The programme for government, which was published last week, reiterates our commitment to consider the justification for, and practical operation of, compulsory sales orders and implement new infrastructure levy regulations by spring 2026. The levy would provide local authorities with an additional mechanism for securing developer contributions, alongside planning obligations.

I welcome the commitment in the programme for government and that progress. The cabinet secretary will be aware of the housing crisis that we have here, in Edinburgh, which is partly due to the extremely high cost of land. I would therefore encourage the cabinet secretary to continue to work with her Government colleagues, including the housing minister, on the low-carbon vacant and derelict land investment programme and to continue to engage the City of Edinburgh Council and parliamentarians in Edinburgh to work together to unlock and reduce the price of unused land in the capital.

The member raises some really important points in his question.

I would like to outline that, since 2020-21, the City of Edinburgh Council has received three awards from the low-carbon vacant and derelict land investment programme, totalling just under £3.5 million, to support affordable housing in the public realm in Granton and Greendykes. The low-carbon vacant and derelict land investment programme tries to support ambitious local proposals to tackle persistently vacant and derelict land, place-based regeneration and our 20-minute neighbourhood aspirations as part of our just transition to net zero.

My Government colleagues and I will be happy to engage with the member and others who represent the city region, as well as the council, to see how we can take forward those issues and take action on them.

Land value capture and compulsory sales orders are obviously complex issues, and any policy in this area will have to be both detailed and flexible to recognise the vast range of circumstances in which such powers might be considered. If the Scottish Government is going to take the measures forward, can the minister assure us that compulsory sales will be a last resort and that a sale will be permitted only to buyers who have a fully developed and funded plan for land use?

We are obviously not yet at the stage of taking such decisions. As the member rightly touches on, this is a complex area, which is why we need to take forward the work on it and why we set it out in our programme for government. I am aware that I have an upcoming meeting with the member, at which I would be happy to discuss the issues and how we intend to take them forward.

Seventeen per cent of Scotland’s population is made up of people living in rural areas, yet, last week, the First Minister announced that he will be allocating just 10 per cent of new funding for building affordable homes to rural areas. Does the cabinet secretary accept that that is an outrageous disparity, and will she push back on his plan to underfund rural housing?

This Government is committed to building more houses than any previous Scottish Government or any Government anywhere else across these isles. I recognise that the member raises an important point on the availability of housing. When I travel to rural parts of Scotland, including our islands, housing is a key issue, and the need for more housing is mentioned. That is why the Minister for Housing has been working on developing a remote, rural and islands housing action plan to look at how we can tackle those issues by working with the third sector, other enterprises and business. Good work is happening across the country at the moment, but the issue is how we focus that and drive house building forward.