Connect Community Trust

Scottish Land Fund

Connect Community Trust
  1. Funding
  2. Funding programmes
  3. 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
£10,000 to £1,000,000
Total available
£10 million in 2017-18
Application deadline

Ongoing

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 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 offers 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.

The overall success rate for Scottish Land Fund applications is 61%. This is based on decisions made in the 6 months period up to 30 September 2018. Please read our blog for more information on success rates

Scottish Land Fund awards made since April 2016

Delivered by The National Lottery Community Fund, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and funded by Scottish Government
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.

You can apply for grants between £10,000 and £1 million to fund the purchase of land or land assets. You can also request some revenue funding to help with the cost of developing your proposal or initial running costs of your project after acquisition.

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 0300 123 7110. 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

Related documents

Get help using our electronic forms here.

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.

Scottish Land Fund committee minutes from January 2019

March 2019