Wealthy firms buying Scottish land pose risk of greater inequality, study warns

Commission says corporations and forestry companies competing for estates are driving up prices in already squeezed market

Land ownership in Scotland is at risk of becoming more elitist and unequal because wealthy corporations and forestry companies are dramatically driving up land prices, a new study has warned.

The report from the Scottish Land Commission found that a significant number of Highland estates and hill farms were sought by corporations last year as an investment or as sites for planting new conifer plantations.