Sunday, May 26, 2019

Land values are created by society

As any estate agent will confirm, the value of land depends entirely on its 'location, location, location' and not on the efforts of the current owner.

(This is distinct from the value of the buildings and improvements on any plot of land - the owner has spent money, time and effort on construction and maintenance.)

And what factors go towards creating and maintaining the location value? If is the services which can be accessed from that plot - be they publicly funded (police, public transport, schools, hospitals, public parks), privately provided (jobs, shops and leisure activities) or provided free by nature (good weather, nice views).

When a landowner rents out or sells a building, a large part of the rent or selling price relates purely to the 'location, location, location' value, which society as a whole creates and sustains.

If it is fair and reasonable for a tenant to pay for the value of these services, surely it is fair and reasonable to make the landowner pass on that element of the rent to society as a whole, i.e. pay it to the government in Land Value Tax.

A majority of homes are owner-occupied, but they are currently enjoying these services 'for free' (or nearly free, if we ignore Council Tax and SDLT) and/or denying others access to them, so it seems fair and reasonable for owner-occupiers to pay Land Value Tax as well?

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