Who owns England?
We do!
As a society we own all the land in the country through the crown.
At the beginning of the Norman occupation, William The Bastard, Duke of Normandy, seized all the land of England as his personal possession - “to use and abuse as he sees fit” - he owned all of it.
He then granted the right to hold parcels of land to his family, friends and supporters.
This right, the "freehold", was conditional - anyone who rebelled against the crown, or refused to provide service and a share of the rent taken from those who worked the land, found the right taken away and handed to someone else.
Nothing has changed since.
The “escheat” section of this page on The Crown Estate web makes it clear that all land is held by the crown.
The case of Army v Dalkziel (1944) made it clear that purchasing a house does not mean buying the land - you purchase the right to “hold” it from the crown as “freehold”.
We, as a society, own all the land in England through the crown.
We, as a society, control how land may be used through the planning system.
We, as individuals, may purchase the freehold on land. We "own" the buildings but we "hold" the land.
You cannot be a "landowner" but you can be a "landholder" - as a "freeholder".
The Land Registry records all transactions on land - including details of the freeholders.
Land Value Tax enables us all to benefit from the value of our biggest national asset - land.
Why would anyone buy land?
The answer is fairly obvious if we have a use for it - for homes, factories, offices etc
It becomes less obvious when it is agricultural land.
No one in their right mind would buy agricultural land in the hope of making a good return.
There are plenty of places to invest capital and bring in at least 5% a year. A couple of years ago even the government was offering over 6% in National Savings bonds!
Agricultural land varies in price depending on its quality but £12,000 an acre would be a good working value. 5% of £12,000 is £600. No tenant is going to pay £600 an acre as rent and you won’t make £600 an acre even if you sit on your tractor and farm it!
It may be hard to believe but the price of agricultural land can go down as well as up. During the agricultural depression from the end of the 19th century, when cheap imported food from The Empire destroyed English farming, until the start of WWII, the author’s grandfather (who had made money as a flour miller) bought two farms in Herefordshire and one in Gloucestershire - at knock down prices!
So why buy it?
To avoid tax by selling all or part of an existing business and using Business Asset Roll Over Relief.
To avoid Inheritance Tax by using Agricultural Property Relief (APR).
Those who held land before APR was introduced in 1984 had to pay inheritance tax - usually by raising a mortgage on the land or selling a field. One way or another, real family farms (the sort where the owners actually work on the land) survived before 1984. The country estates, where the owners didn’t dirty their hands but simply extracted rent, were protected by trusts, tax havens and other tax avoidance schemes.
It is worth remembering that 63% of agricultural land in England does not benefit from APR - because it is farmed by tenants and the landlord gets the APR!
To join the toffs and shoot pheasants.
For status, to join “the landed gentry” and to act as lord of the manor.
As an asset that doesn’t loose value (you hope). At least you can enjoy land, unlike gold or bitcoins!
To farm it. Those who have bought land to avoid tax, or as a hedge against inflation, have forced up the price of land beyond reason - preventing genuine farmers, particularly young farmers, from being able to buy land for farming.
Land Value Tax, and scrapping APR, will gradually reduce the real price of land - after all, taking rent, having to pay LVT and getting no tax benefits, will push fake farmers out of the market.
Splitting hairs
You can “own” buildings but you can’t “own” land - you “hold” land as “freehold”.
As a society, we are the only “landowners” - the rest are “landholders” no matter what they think!
It is highly unlikely that anyone will try to take away freehold so many people think of it as "owning" and refer to "landowners" rather than "landholders".
Those who insist on the legal difference between "own" and "hold" are accused of "splitting hairs", being "out of date", "living in the past" and engaging in "student level thinking". The people who call us these things are usually landholders, in the pay of landholders or lackeys and sycophants - and we are decades beyond our student days!
However, the difference is vitally important if we are to see land for what it is - a national asset to be used for the benefit of us all.
We urge everyone in favour of LVT to consistently use "landholder" not "landowner".
