Scottish Land Fund

Supporting urban and rural communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets.

Area: Scotland
Suitable for: Voluntary or community organisations, Public sector organisations
Funding size: £10001 to £1000000
Application deadline: The current funding round closed to stage 2 applications in August 2020. The fund is still open to stage 1 applications - see below for more information.

Image credit: Image credit: Connect Community Trust, an example of a project funded for similar work under Medium Grants Scotland

What’s it all about?

The current round of the Scottish Land Fund closed to full applications in August. We aren't currently accepting applications for land, building or asset purchases.

However, we can still consider first stage applications to help communities develop their ideas or do preliminary work around taking ownership of assets.

To discuss what we might be able to support, please get in touch with the Scottish Land Fund team at The National Lottery Community Fund on advicescotland@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or 0141 846 0447.

You can also contact your existing Scottish Land Fund Adviser if you already have one.

The Scottish Land Fund supports rural and urban communities to become more resilient and sustainable through the ownership and management of land and land assets.

Funded by the Scottish Government and delivered in partnership by The National Lottery Community Fund and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, it offered grants of up to £1 million to help communities take ownership of the land and buildings that matter to them, as well as practical support to develop their aspirations into viable projects.

Scottish Land Fund awards made since April 2016

What are we looking for?

The Scottish Land Fund is open to organisations in both urban and rural Scotland which are community-led, community-controlled and defined by a geographic area.

Successful applicants will clearly demonstrate that their project will help their local community to:

achieve more sustainable economic, environmental and/or social development through ownership of land and buildings
have a stronger role in and control over their own development
own well managed, financially sustainable land and buildings.

We will prioritise applications that can demonstrate significant positive impact for the community as a whole. Applicants will have the opportunity to test out and develop their ideas with support from a Scottish Land Fund Adviser.

The current round of funding offered grants between £10,001 and £1 million to fund the purchase of land or land assets until August 2020.

Although the current round is now closed to full applications, you can still request some revenue funding to help with the cost of developing future community asset proposals.

Applicants can be from one of a wide range of representative community bodies, including voluntary organisations, social enterprises or community councils.

How to apply

To apply, contact The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland to discuss your idea at advicescotland@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk or on 0141 846 0447. If your project is eligible you will be assigned a Scottish Land Fund Adviser from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, who will help you develop your idea and get ready to submit your application.

The National Lottery Community Fund is a Living Wage Friendly Funder. This means that we encourage our applicants to pay their staff the UK Living Wage.

Visit our Living Wage page for more information

Checks

As an organisation that gives out public funds, we carry out some checks on the information you provide us. Learn more about our checks

Scottish Land Fund committee

The Scottish Land Fund Committee are appointed by Scottish Ministers to oversee the Fund, and to take decisions on applications from community groups for grants for acquisition of land and land assets.

Please read our blog which introduces the seven members of the Scottish Land Fund Committee.