QUAKER (RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS) CONCERN FOR LAND REFORM

Quaker concern for land reform

 22 Feb 2018 | by Rebecca Hardy

Friends concerned with housing equality 

have been urged to join a campaign to start a Land Value Tax

Friends concerned with housing equality have been urged to join a campaign to start a Land Value Tax (LVT). Jocelyn Gaskell, from Yealand Meeting, hopes to start a campaign within British Quakerism.

LVT is a method of raising public revenue by means of an annual charge on the rental value of land. She told the Friend that her motivation came out of a longstanding concern for peace and justice: ‘I have been in housing need in the past myself and am aware that this problem has been building for years. I’m horrified and saddened by the homelessness we have now. We need a radical way to tackle it.’

Jocelyn Gaskell explained that the idea of LVT is that people and businesses pay a contribution for the benefit of investment in that land. She said: ‘Canary Wharf went hugely up in value when the Jubilee Line was extended. Private landlords benefitted from public money going into infrastructure.’

She believes that LVT would make the system fairer.

Jocelyn Gaskell developed her interest in LVT in November 2017 at Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW)’s new economy training weekend in Manchester. She was prompted to act and has now written an in-depth briefing, with a blog on the Quakers in Britain website. She is urging other Friends to join her and has had a positive response.

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