Land reform campaigners have raised the alarm over a legal loophole that allows landowners to keep the prices of Highland estate sales secret. More than £300 million worth of property deals in the Highlands have not shown prices on the public land register. Andy Wightman, a land reform expert, revealed that companies like Discovery Land Company paid £21.4 million for the Glenlyon estate in 2022 but hid the price using this tactic. Oxygen Conservation, which aims to be the UK's largest private landowner, also used the loophole to hide the £42.75 million spent on two Scottish estates. Even the John Muir Trust, a well-known wild land charity, concealed prices when buying land near Kylesku. The loophole involves buyers not filling in the 'monetary consideration' section in registration forms and instead using the term 'implementation of missives' under 'non-monetary consideration.' This keeps the sale price off the title deeds and the public register. To discover the price, one must pay a fee and request documents from Registers of Scotland. Wightman and groups like the Scottish Land Commission want the law changed to force all prices to be declared publicly. The commission called the current practice "not good in responsible ownership" because it blocks market transparency. Josh Doble from Community Land Scotland said, "It is simply unacceptable that those acquiring the largest pieces of land can obscure transaction details." The Scottish government is exploring ways to improve the rules, as currently, the register keeper cannot demand price disclosure. Oxygen Conservation and others defended their actions as legal and sometimes necessary due to sellers’ confidentiality requests. The John Muir Trust said it values transparency and will examine if it can now share its purchase prices publicly. Discovery Land Company did not comment. Par Equity, which also hid the price of a 2021 land purchase, said confidentiality sometimes comes from the seller's side.