Compulsory Purchase Reform in Scotland

Overview

The Scottish Government wants compulsory purchase to fulfil its potential as a tool for delivering projects in the public interest – one that encourages authorities to make positive and proactive use of their powers, including in partnership with third parties. We want to reform the system to make it simpler, more streamlined and fairer for all parties.

Our consultation on compulsory purchase reform, which ran from October to December 2025, sought views on a package of options and proposals that would provide for a comprehensive reform and modernisation of Scotland's compulsory purchase system to make it fit for the 21st century. 

Read the consultation paper 

What happens next

The consultation is now closed. We are very grateful to everyone who took the time to read and respond to the consultation paper, which we recognise was a lengthy and technical document. We are currently analysing the feedback received and a summary of responses will be published in due course. Our blog post of 19 February 2026 provides further information about timings and next steps. If you have any questions please get in touch at CPO.Reform@gov.scot.

Published responses can be viewed above. Please note that where people responded outwith Citizen Space (e.g. by email or post), their responses have been uploaded as a PDF attachment. Answers to questions on compulsory sale and lease orders have been manually entered into the questionnaire to support the analysis of those questions, which is being carried out separately.