Land Value Capture – A Potential Solution To Housing And Infrastructure Delivery?

Following publication of its report at the end of May, the Scottish Land Commission is currently exploring different models of land value capture to finance investment in enabling infrastructure and, in turn, encouraging development particularly in the housing sector.

LVC is a principle, reflecting the idea that increases in land values attributable to society – for example the grant of planning permission, upgrades to infrastructure or external investment – should be shared so as to benefit society as a whole; the belief being that landowners and developers currently benefit from the uplift in value.

The concept of LVC is not exactly new, having featured intermittently in government policy since the end of the Second World War.