Community Land Scotland correction and joint statement
Are we trying to sell land for prices far higher than what the land is worth? Are we “dreaming of vast profits”? No and no.
This is what Highlands Rewilding stood accused of in an op-ed by Josh Doble of Community Land Scotland this week, along with other “green lairds”, though we were the only “lairds” named.
The article and false information will damage the company badly, continuing to echo on social media and in conversations. Most will miss the small print of an apology, but the problem of misinformation is significant.
We are serious in our desire to achieve exemplars of community-centred nature recovery, and so we reached out to suggest the two organisations work together to try and make sure this kind of mistake does not happen again. We agreed a joint statement, and here it is:
JOINT STATEMENT BY HIGHLANDS REWILDING AND COMMUNITY LAND SCOTLAND
A mistaken conclusion published by Community Land Scotland (CLS) in The Scotsman suggests a 47% hike in land prices by Highlands Rewilding Ltd (HRL) since 2023. HRL land sales, which are specifically designed to deliver nature restoration and community prosperity in perpetuity, are effectively being priced to cover costs only. CLS regrets having made what it now understands to be a mistaken conclusion about the position by using only the information provided by the HRL accounts at Companies House. Learning from this unfortunate experience, from now on the two organisations commit to work together on the basis of greater mutual transparency consistent with their shared vision of community-centred nature recovery, albeit via very different routes. For the benefit of those interested in the detail, relevant financial data will soon be available on the Highlands Rewilding website. This is a level of financial transparency which HRL is not obliged to provide but which it volunteers for and would have provided to CLS if asked. CLS welcomes HRL publishing further information on their landholdings and finances. HRL have made clear it will show, as they have said all along, that they will in no way “profiteer” from these land sales.
FURTHER FINANCIAL INFORMATION
The land at Bunloit and Beldorney offered for sale is operated by Highlands Rewilding, and owned by Highlands Rewilding and its associated company Solarsanctuary Limited: Highlands Rewilding operate land at South Bunloit and Beldorney Castle under an agreement with SolarSanctuary Limited. The 2023 statutory accounts for both companies show a land value (land, buildings and woodlands) as valued by an independent valuer of £5.0 million in Highlands Rewilding and £2.9 million in Solarsanctuary Limited, a combined valuation of £7.9 million. These accounts also disclose the combined cost of acquiring these assets of £8.4 million (the difference between the cost and valuation is attributable to taxes and fees paid on acquiring the land, and changes in land valuation since the point of purchase).
North Bunloit and the Beldorney estate are currently marketed with a combined offer price of £7.2 million against a valuation of £6.8 million in the 2023 accounts (the difference between this and the total valuation of £7.9 million above is land at South Bunloit, which is not marketed), a £0.4 million (6%) premium over the 2023 valuations for these areas. £0.3 million of this premium (4%) covers the costs incurred (LBTT and professional fees) in the original acquisition, £0.1 million represents the company’s desire to recover the original full cost paid for the land on acquisition, placing the company in a position where there is no gain or loss against the original cost of acquiring the land now being offered.
The independent valuations obtained from the same independent valuer as at March 2024, used in the preparation of the companies’ financial statements for the year ended 31 March 24, indicate a valuation increase of £0.1 million for the combined land holdings at Bunloit and Beldorney, i.e. £8.0 million in aggregate.
The valuation at March 24 for the land owned wholly by Highlands Rewilding currently at Tayvallich is £6.9 million, after NCIP sales made to the Tayvallich Initiative and The Barrahormaid Trust for total consideration of £3.5 million. The total consideration paid by Highlands Rewilding, including £0.8 million of equity and £0.5 million of costs, attributable to the land and buildings acquired at Tayvallich in May 2024 was £11.3 million.
The land offered at Danna & Ulva had a valuation of £3.5 million as at March 24. The offer price sought of £3.7 million includes recovery of the LBTT paid on that area when acquired, plus an apportionment of the total legal costs incurred on the purchase of Tayvallich.
“VAST PROFITS”
We do not dream of vast profits. We dream of sustainable, ethical, profits that amount to win-win-win formulae for investors in private institutions, our company and its investors, and the local communities wherein we work. Stated another way, we work to achieve returns that can satisfy pension funds for example (we all need pensions) whilst also making Highlands Rewilding investable so that we can live on to fulfil our stated purpose of nature recovery and community prosperity through rewilding taken to scale.
To make the case, below is a diagram from our business plan. It shows revenues per hectare from our plan in red. Numbers are based on using the English Biodiversity Net Gain process as a proxy in Scotland, since we have no Scottish government policy in place at the moment. It shows yields per hectare compared to yields per hectare from different types of agriculture in Scotland. The picture tells the story. You can’t make “vast profits” from this, just as most farmers can’t make vast profits. You can make ethical profits though. (Provided you can persuade pension funds and others to invest in you so that you can do the land management needed!)
