This chapter explores political conflicts over the land issue. It examines the role of land value in house prices over time, the thinking underlying Henry George’s land tax proposal, the fate of the various attempts to tax betterment value and Lloyd George’s challenge to the landed aristocracy. The politics of planning controls are reviewed with particular reference to the influence of interest groups such as the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England. The fortunes of Green Belts, New Towns, Eco-towns, Regional Development Agencies and the local use and national responses to development control are investigated. The connections between planning control and the containment of urban Britain are examined as are the electoral politics of land release in the 2010 and 2015 General Elections.
Village land politics and the legacy ofujamaa
