Whose Land Is Our Land?: The Use and Abuse of Britain's Forgotten Acres (Shorts Insights)

Food security and housing a nation with an expanding population should be key priorities for a small island like Britain. Yet both are being thwarted by record land prices. In the last 10 years, farm land has risen by almost 200% - with feeding the nation a secondary consideration to speculators buying up thousands of acres annually to avoid tax. If planning permission is given for new housing, prices can rise fifty-fold - making a vast profit for a few and home ownership a distant dream for many. In this provocative book, journalist Peter Hetherington argues that Britain, particularly England, needs an active policy to address these areas and stronger action by the government. This important debate will attract interest among academics and postgraduates in planning, surveying, housing management, rural policy and social policy, political organisations, the Third Sector, social enterprises, national housing organisations, community and voluntary groups. In recent decades, rising land prices and ever-increasing demand for housing have made it incredibly difficult for farms to sustain themselves in Britainwith dangerous consequences for food supplies. Government attention to the issue has been limited at best, which has led to speculation and the loss of more and more farmland. With Whose Land Is Our Land? Peter Hetherington mounts a powerful argument for a more active, forward-thinking policy, one that acknowledges the importance of farming, rural society, and food security and takes stronger action to curb speculation and rampant overbuilding. In this provocative book, journalist Peter Hetherington argues that Britain, particularly England, needs an active land policy to protect against record land price increases that threaten food security and housing provision for Britain's expanding population.