Local Property Taxation as a Strategic Planning Tool in UK: Can ‘Landvaluescape’ Play a Role at Local Levels?

Abstract

In common with many countries of the world, there are concerns within planning and regeneration circles regarding the very slow progress towards sustainable development and a realization that for progress to be achieved there is a need for government to act. Consequently, the UK government is seeking, through a variety of instruments, including the land use planning system, to mitigate the environmental impact of development. Indeed the overarching aim of the extant land use legislation (in particular, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the Sustainable Communities Act 2007) is the promotion of sustainable communities, across the so-called ‘triple bottom line’ of economic well-being, social justice and environmental protection. This paper discusses geo-political developments in the approach to funding local and regional government and how the UK is affected by these. The paper considers research in Britain into the potential for using aggregated property valuations as a method of monitoring economic health at a national and local scale, by applying geo-spatial modelling and display techniques. Given advances in the application of modern information systems (including the capture, management and display of geo-spatial data), the authors assess the potential of such systems for the status of relevant datasets in the UK.

Notes

¹ The distinction between land in this sense and that which is built upon it, as a source of revenue for governments, has long been recognized. Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations (Book V, Chapter II, Part II, Article 1 ‘Taxes upon the rent of land’), states: ‘Ground-rents, and the ordinary rent of land, are therefore perhaps the species of revenue which can best bear to have a peculiar tax imposed upon them.’ (Smith 1776: 845).

² Incentive Taxation is the name of the newsletter of the Center for the Study of Economics, a Philadelphia-based organization that assists local governments in the United States with studies of LVT.

³ TED is a form of value map that shows the change in tax burden (relative or absolute) for specific land sites under various alternative tax regimes.