1086: Domesday Book

1873: Return of Owners of Land

1911: Lloyd George's valuation maps

1925: Land Registration Act

What do we know about land ownership today?

About 87% of land in England & Wales is registered

You can find out who owns a particular property, for £3

No way to find out what a person owns

No official statistics

INSPIRE (2006): grudging, minimal geographic boundaries!

2016: Land Registry accidentally releases data on offshore ownership

2016: FOI requests

2018: Company and overseas company ownership data released (sort of)

Increasing interest in land in policy terms

• Housing  issue
• Subsidy system increasingly regarded as unfair & will have to change
• Recognition that land has been forgotten in economic terms

Land value tax: pros

• Encourages productive use of land
• Hard to hide or avoid
• Evidence it supports economic growth, reduces house price volatility
• Already used in Denmark, Estonia, Barbados and Australia - e.g. Denmark has 1% tax <£340k, 3% above

Land value tax: cons

• Politically difficult - a 'salient' tax. 'Garden tax' issue!
• We already have the highest 'property tax' in the developed world
• Practical issues around implementation
• Gradual introduction needed
• Forces highest-value use of land

Land value capture:
an idea whose time has come?