As Landed Estates enjoy a well-earned break after a busy season, many landowners will be turning their attention to their plans for the year ahead, and the myriad of opportunities that are presenting themselves.

Over the past decade many Estates have diversified their activities into areas such as furnished holiday lettings, food and drink production, garden centres, Estate farm shops, and wedding / corporate event venues.

In doing so, landowners have safeguarded the Estate’s property for future generations, whilst ensuring that their businesses remain resilient and can continue to provide job opportunities in Scotland’s Rural regions.

As climate action continues to gather pace, an area of diversification we are increasingly seeing at the forefront of landowners’ minds is renewables. With the Scottish Government having set a target to generate 50% of Scotland’s overall energy consumption from renewable sources by 2030, and to have decarbonised the system almost completely by 2050, renewable energy projects are in high demand at the moment.

Opportunities to enter into the carbon sequestration market are of particular interest to many landowners. Carbon sequestration is the process by which carbon is captured from the atmosphere and stored, helping mitigate global warming, and the land-based sector is ideally positioned to capitalise on this. So, if you are intending to enter into such ventures, what do you need to consider?

Renewable energy schemes run for decades, so ensuring that you have the correct holding structure in place is imperative from the outset. From the project’s inception, our specialist teams can assist with:

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Ensuring that an optimal tax structure is put in place
• Providing bespoke financial models to include integrated tax and accounting
• Assisting with project financing and fundraising
• Secondary market acquisitions and disposals
• Valuations
• Capital allowances reviews and claims to ensure that this tax relief is maximised.

There may also be commercial and tax benefits available to landowners who are looking to diversify into habitat, amenity or commercial woodland for carbon offsetting.

As always however, careful consideration needs to be given to diversifying your business’s activities to ensure that all potential implications have been considered. We therefore recommend engaging with professional advisers early to seek advice before making any decisions.

For more information, please contact me at Michael.Larg@jcca.co.uk, a member of our expert Rural or Energy, Infrastructure & Sustainability teams, or your usual Johnston Carmichael contact.