The Single Tax Solution

"As no man made the land, so no man can claim a right of ownership in the land.” Henry George

Over the centuries private ownership of land has been the cause of societal poverty, banishment, exile and community instability.

Increases in the value of land, created by society's work and trade, can provide landowners with huge windfall gains whilst making no contribution.

Landowners do not increase land values. Communities do.

Land Value Tax is an effective and fair way of paying for public services.

Land Value Tax would encourage development of empty sites creating jobs and homes and reducing urban sprawl.

LVT would end land and property speculation. No more eviction for profit or soaring rents.

Land Value Tax cannot be avoided. Any site with no registered owner would be sold at auction for the benefit of the public purse.

Disadvantaged sites such as property adversely affected by a new railway line for example, would pay a reduced rate of LVT or qualify for an exemption.

LVT would act as a damper on escalating land prices, allowing the Bank to lower interest rates for the benefit of homeowners, industry and small firms.

LVT would start to ease the social rage over corporate greed and government betrayal.

By creating a more equitable society and prioritising regular funds for mental health care this single tax reform will begin to heal the wounds inflicted by greed and neglect.

Ultimately, all other taxes will be abolished because more money can be raised with LVT/AGR than all other taxes put together!

Annual Ground Rent (AGR) also known as Land Value Tax (LVT) - is a Single Tax alternative to today's convoluted tax administration that increasingly benefits the rich and provides loop holes for tax avoidance, property speculation and concentrated wealth. Annual Ground Rent taxes land only, whether or not it has property upon it. Henry George - the American Economist and author of Progress & Poverty, argued that land as a natural resource should belong to everyone equally. He maintained that taxing land would generate revenue and promote a more just and equitable society.

The gradual introduction of this single tax would progressively bring about an end to property speculation, eviction for profit, souring rents, inflated house prices, land grabs, decaying urban communities, homelessness and urban sprawl.

Ultimately, all other taxes, income tax, corporation tax, council tax, vat, national insurance etc., would be phased out, because more money can be raised with this single tax solution than all other taxes put together and could ultimately, provide a collective fund made available to all citizens as a single annual payment.

“The great cause of inequality in the distribution of wealth is inequality in the ownership of land. The ownership of land is the great fundamental fact which ultimately determines the social, political, and consequently the intellectual and moral condition of a people.” Henry George

cvcvvcv dvof cdcsdc cvdcds dcdwdw

"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as part of the community to which we belong and we begin to use it with love and respect, then we will be ready to rekindle a natural inheritance that nurtures our true interconnectedness"

Property speculation is arguably the most disturbing and damaging development that ever hit UK society. Your rented house or flat, once your home, has become a profit-making commodity for your landlord. Due to a lack of action by government on multiple housing crises, lack of homes, poor living conditions, unaffordable rent hikes and still, five years after the promise to end no-fault evictions, tenants continue to be at the mercy of profit-seeking landlords. Your security of tenure is lost. This is the main cause of social disparity, poverty, homelessness and mental disorders such as anxiety, depression and even suicide. Mortgage holders, subject to interest rate hikes coupled with a cost of living that is rapidly escalating beyond our means, are perilously close to forced sales or worse, foreclosure. Even owning your home is no longer secure.

Concentrated land ownership is the driver of the UK’s gross wealth inequality and housing misery for so many. In the words of Winston Churchill, “Roads are made, streets are made, services are improved, electric light turns night into day, water is brought from reservoirs a hundred miles off in the mountains – and all the while the landlord sits still - he renders no service to the community, he contributes nothing to the general welfare, he contributes nothing to the process from which his own enrichment is derived.” To this day this a rousing call for a switch to the Single land tax solution, a levy to capture rising land prices, and over the decades it has been supported by eminent economists and taken up in various forms in cities across the planet, from Australia to eastern Europe, some examples of which can be seen on the next page.

Financial benefits generated by increases in the value of land rightfully belong to society. It is morally reprehensible to deny the people the benefit of that huge income produced by their own labours, and which currently goes entirely to the landowner who contributes nothing to create it.

Annual Ground Rent will provide greater financial stability, and make available a huge budget specifically for vital infrastructure, health, education, and transport. AGR will discourage property speculation and drastically reduce rent and mortgage payments. Houses and apartments will become homes again, and there has never been a time of greater need than right now!

More money can be raised with this single tax solution for the benefit of society than all the present taxes put together. Ultimately. all other taxes will be abolished.

Key Points of Annual Ground Rent

AGR is a radical solution to the unfair economic system that is currently crippling society.

AGR will end property speculation, eviction for profit, tax evasion, souring rents, land grabs and homelessness

Unlike our current ‘taxes’ AGR does not raise money from labour or trade.

AGR is a single payment charged on the ownership of land.

More money can be raised for social improvements using AGR than all other taxes put together.

Over time all other taxes will be abolished.

The notion of a single tax solution has both keen supporters and skeptics. Some opponents of Annual Ground Rent question its practicality and the complexity of assessing land values.

Technology and geographical information systems shows this exercise to be much less complicated than first perceived. Setting the correct tax rates and exemptions is crucial to ensure fairness.

For example large farms could be overburdened with Annual Ground Rent, so exemptions and reduced rates can be built in to mitigate any unfair burden on rural communities.

One of the significant advantages of Annual Ground Rent is its potential to discourage land speculation and land hoarding which is the bane of current society.

Since the wealthy often own more valuable land, they end up paying a larger share of the tax burden. This will encourage them to make their land more productive. Also, by redistributing wealth from landowners to the broader population, AGR addresses concerns of income inequality.

AGR has been implemented in 30 countries around the world. It is not new! Annual Ground Rent - known then as Land Value Tax - was first adopted in Pittsburgh in 1913 and in every single occurrance has proved successful even to the point of averting social and economic disaster.

Opposite is a link to examples of LVT implementation that tell the full story of its effectiveness. Also, links to news pages and general informative documents that often share similar information. But the one resounding result in every case is that it works, and there has never been a time of greater need for our own society here in the UK than right now!

Click this arrow for examples of LVT in use.

So how can we abide the continuous pressure of unaffordable essentials and a rising cost of living?

"The key element of social control is to divert public attention from important issues and changes decided by political and economic elites, through the technique of flooding continuous distractions and insignificant information.” Noam Chomsky

The need for connection and community is primal, as fundamental as the need for air, water, and food. We need to become more aware of our own strengths and our individualism in a world where the powers that be want us all to feed from the same trough.

"In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it." Marianne Williamson

There is a state of collective or community consciousness that our self-appointed rulers fear most and we must take care not to be dulled down by entertainment and consumption fed by a media bought from the ocean of unshared wealth that is kept hidden from our view.

The revenue from Annual Ground Rent will return equality and prosperity to us all.

I refer again to that splendid oracle of wisdom Mahatma Gandhi, "Strength comes from an indomitable will. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. We need not wait to see what others do."

If you want an in-depth view of Annual Ground Rent then don't hesitate to check out Fred Harrison's #WeAreRent Book 1, Book 2. The land that belongs to all of us, out of which we were systematically cheated over a period of nearly 600 years. This is a volume that cannot be unread and will recharge your energy for a better world for us, our children and generations to come.

You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of your problems at once but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage is contagious and can take on a life of its own.

“In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival.” ? Noam Chomsky

Thank you for visiting this website which can be the beginning of a new uncharted journey that will restore what rightfully belongs to everyone and is long overdue.