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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Interfaith meeting in Sydney about housing affordability

The story below is from the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission). 

Blog Editor's Note:  When housing affordability becomes the topic of an interfaith meeting, one knows there is a problem beyond deniability.

Pictures below are from ABC News: Siobhan Fogarty

Single mum Nadine Carrick was among 600 people from across Sydney last night who came together to make impassioned pleas for the housing affordability crisis to be tackled.

Ms Carrick, a full-time student studying town planning, said she was paying 70 per cent of her income towards rent.

"We all have a right to this city and to be part of the community and we demand action, for the Government to take action, because what else are they there for?" she said.

Ms Carrick said the cost of living in Sydney outstripped her income by about $200 per week.

"I can't even really afford to run my car at the moment," she said. 

"The priority is a roof over our head, food and some petrol for the car to get around."

Affordability and renting

For renting to become a truly viable, long-term alternative to home ownership, greater rental affordability and security is needed, writes senior research fellow Emma Power.The forum saw a diverse group converge on St Mary's Cathedral Hall and take a stand against the price of housing in Sydney.

The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney attended and mingled with other faith groups, single mums, business leaders, trade unionists and former homeless drug addicts.

Magnus Linder, executive officer of Churches Housing and the chair of the Sydney Alliance Housing Team, said people were deserting Sydney because of the cost of housing and rent.

He said some were foregoing expenses in areas most of us would take for granted.

"People are choosing not to go to the dentist because they have to choose to pay the rent and so they'll just let the tooth rot and fall out," he said.

"Some people are choosing not to eat because they need to pay the rent or make the decision, 'well I'll feed the kids and I'll go without'."