Land ownership in the UK

[Billhook]

eatyourveg - I'd generally agree that merely taxing large holdings
won't necessarily result in even one agribusiness unit being broken up into moderate farms -
the fact of land-purchases for tax-loss, and of really slick tax-avoidance ploys, shouldn't be ignored.

Setting the policy objective and then setting regulation to meet it seems more productive
than just setting blanket finance penalties on large holdings & hoping to generate positive outcomes.

From this perspective, if the goal is to raise greatly the number of small and moderate farms available
rather than them being swallowed into ever larger or multiple holdings,
and to encourage sufficient labour to work them with less use of fossil energy, machinery, and chemical inputs,
then govt (& councils) are perfectly capable, within present legislation, of building a land-bank for redistribution under practical but equitable terms.

Indeed, only local & national authorities can meet the central requirement of increased accommodation
by enhancing planning rules to allow rural workers' & land-sharers' housing.

This need not be an extreme hit on public spending - say 10,000 farms x 100 acres x £4,000/ac = a mere £4.0 billion - which is petty cash.

Petty cash, that is not lost to treasury, merely temporarily invested in land,
recovered partly on its sale & partly via treasury 2% mortgage, and then re-invested in the next unit.

In this way we can ensure that our farms recover the human vitality that is essential for their reliable productivity.

This is not by any means the only option for govt intervention, just the best I've come across.

Regards,

Billhook

[eatyourveg]

You are of course right there Billhook.
It seems to me though is that the real problem in dealing with any matters regarding the countryside from Government down to the general public is that it is seen as a theme park, not as a working environment.
We have become so far removed from where our hearts should be.

[CountingDown]

In the last couple of weeks I put 200 leaflets around a local estate asking them to a meeting to learn about the opportunity to start a Community Garden and hear about the considerable funding available to pay for the start up costs. I got half a dozen replies and four of those were from current allotment holders.

Hi there Ken - I'd be interested in your info on the Community Garden funding - do you have any links we can look at?

Thanks

Andrew

[kenneal - lagger]

I disagree. Take the present banking thing. The result of all that, if/when the dust settles, will be a re-distribution of wealth alright - into even fewer hands, again.
The same will happen with land, those who have sense and money will be buying up as much as they can. Now. That is how 'efficient' re-distribution will take place.
Those that could have made a difference over the last few years by buying acreage as a prudent strategy instead chose to buy cars, plasma tv's and other trivia.
We are generally very stupid.

The people who are buying land now and have bought it recently are the w/bankers and brokers who have caused most of the economic problems we are now facing. With their enormous bonuses they have been hoovering up the most desirable bits of land and have boosted land prices nationwide, putting it out of reach of first time buyers just as in the housing market. People who actually want to work the land can't afford it and the w/banker's land is being given to agents to run as part of huge industrial farming holdings. If that's efficient redistribution, I'm a Dutchman.

Meanwhile small farmers, growing at an appropriate sustainable scale are going broke or giving up because supermarkets aren't paying the production cost of food.

[RenewableCandy]

w/bankers

I've been saying that for ages about house prices (and land as well) but nobody bloody believes me.

[Lamont]

As a rancher from Alberta, my observation is that most great famines were manmade and usually at the hands of Gubmint. Keep in mind that you do not learn to farm or ranch in 5 minutes. The smartest thing a person could do given the energy/peak oil/financial crisis would be to get to know your local farmer and get him as much support you can. Soon he may be all that stands between you and starvation.

[Catweazle]

A piece of land is still well within the budget of many people, they happily spend £10,000 on a budget car but look at me like I'm a loon if I suggest they buy a few acres of land.

[MisterE]

I disagree. Take the present banking thing. The result of all that, if/when the dust settles, will be a re-distribution of wealth alright - into even fewer hands, again.
The same will happen with land, those who have sense and money will be buying up as much as they can. Now. That is how 'efficient' re-distribution will take place.
Those that could have made a difference over the last few years by buying acreage as a prudent strategy instead chose to buy cars, plasma tv's and other trivia.
We are generally very stupid.

The people who are buying land now and have bought it recently are the w/bankers and brokers who have caused most of the economic problems we are now facing. With their enormous bonuses they have been hoovering up the most desirable bits of land and have boosted land prices nationwide, putting it out of reach of first time buyers just as in the housing market. People who actually want to work the land can't afford it and the w/banker's land is being given to agents to run as part of huge industrial farming holdings. If that's efficient redistribution, I'm a Dutchman.

Meanwhile small farmers, growing at an appropriate sustainable scale are going broke or giving up because supermarkets aren't paying the production cost of food.

Bloody bang on mate!

[Catweazle]

If you really want to farm a piece of land then just buy or lease some. I've seen people posting about leasing good arable land at £250 per acre per year, that's not a lot of money.

Get out there and do it rather than moan about who owns the land.

[DominicJ]

An acre of land rented 10 miles from your house is a waste of time, in my opinion.Even if you already own a tractor, the cost of driving it to the plot several times will eat up the value of anything you could produce.
An unattended plot being a bad place to grow anything worth stealing.

[JohnB]

An acre of land rented 10 miles from your house is a waste of time, in my opinion.Even if you already own a tractor, the cost of driving it to the plot several times will eat up the value of anything you could produce.
An unattended plot being a bad place to grow anything worth stealing.

No problem if it's part of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) scheme. You just need to think in unconventional ways! I'd recommend the film The Dirt on Farmer John for inspiration, but the story of a cross dressing American farmer with hippy tendencies would probably be too much for you