Learn the latest on Community Land Auctions
The brain behind Community Land Auctions (promised in Budget 2011) will be speaking at Liberal Democrat Party HQ about them on Wednesday 11th April. He is Dr Tim Leunig, Chief Economist at the thinktank CentreForum. Members of PLRG have first refusal on the limited spaces for this free event.
Although not mentioned in the Chancellor's speech to the House, CLAs do feature in the Budget. A special policy adviser was appointed in the department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) last November, with a brief to prepare for an announcement this April. The Budget includes "the aim to have two sites ready to market by the end of 2012" following pilots of "land auctions". At the same time, Leunig (Chief Economist at thinktank CentreForum) published an updated description of his ideas
The event, to be hosted by the Lib Dems' campaign group Action for Land Taxation and Economic Reform (ALTER) - the Lib Dems adopted CLAs as policy in 2006 - is free. It will take place at 8-10 Great George Street (2 doors from RICS HQ) SW1P 3AE, a 5-minute walk from Westminster Underground, starting at 6pm.
Anyone working in a Local Planning Authority that does not yet have a Core Strategy ought to be interested in CLAs: according to Leunig, they can "turn NIMBYs into IMBYs" - make people want more housing in their area, because it could mean council tax falls to near zero!
According to PLRG Hon Sec Dr Tony Vickers, who was initially sceptical about CLAs: "This is not an alternative to 'full' Land Value Taxation. LVT cannot initially capture the huge one-off uplift in value when agricultural or industrial land gets zoned for housing. LVT captures ongoing 'spillover' value from infrastructure investment near existing development, which CLAs only capture once - and only on a specific site. The two value capture measures are fully compatible."
If you wish to attend this event, you must let the organisers know. Space is limited and only named individuals can access the building. Emailinfo@landvaluescape.org now to find out more.