Land Owners

1
Land Owners

• Penri James 2006

2
References

• Whose land is it anyway?
• Richard Norton-Taylor
• Report of the Committee of Inquiry into the
  acquisition and occupancy of agricultural land.
  1979 (The Northfield Report)
• The Land Registry
• www.landregistry.gov.uk

3
Who owns land ?

• Landownership has been a source of power
  throughout history
• Under the feudal system the monarch owned all the
  land and allowed his subjects to utilise it in
  return for service and money.

4
Who owns the land ?

• England has a tradition of primogeniture where
  the eldest son inherits all land.
• Resulted in concentration of large tracts of land
  in the hands of private individuals.

5
History of land ownership

• The 1st official survey of land was the Doomsday
  Book completed in 1086.
• All land was owned by William the Conqueror
• 1873 'Return of Owners of Land'
• New Doomsday Survey
• instigated by Lord Derby
• 75 of the country owned by 7,000 families

6
History of land ownership

• Northfield Report 1979
• last major survey of land ownership
• 1 of the adult population of Britain owned 70
  of the land1300 individuals owned 33 of total
  land area

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Who are the major landowners ?
8
Private individuals own

• 39,000,000 acres (15.8 million hectares) in UK
• 90 of agricultural land
• 65 of total UK land area

9
The pattern of landownership in Scotland

• Scotland 19,068,631 acres
• Urban 585,627 acres 3
• Rural 18,483,004 acres 97
• in the ownership of public bodies 2,275,768
  acres
• in the ownership of private interests 16,207,236
  acres 

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Of this privately-owned rural land-

• One quarter is owned by 66 landowners in estates
  of 30700 acres and larger
• One third is owned by 120 landowners in estates
  of 21000 acres and larger
• One half is owned by 343 landowners in estates of
  7500 acres and larger
• Two thirds is owned by 1252 landowners in
  estates of 1200 acres and larger
• From www.whoownsscotland.org.uk

11
The Monarchy

• Under the feudal system the Monarch owned all the
  land
• Henry VIII
• Dissolution of the Monasteries
• Confiscated the lands acquired by the monasteries
  between 12th and 16th centuries and distributed
  the spoils between members of his family

12
The Monarchy

• 1760 George III gave up rights to substantial
  tracts of Crown land in exchange for the Civil
  list

13
The Queen

• Balmoral estate 80,000 acres
• 6,700 acre grouse moor
• quote "with rents going up all the time it was
  better to buy one"
• Sandringham, Norfolk
• 20,000 acres farmland
• 6 villages
• Gatcombe Park
• 750 acres
• Aston Farm
• 530 acres

14
Duke of Gloucester

• 2500 acre Barnwell estate  in Northamptonshire

15
Duchy of Lancaster

• Revenue from land
• Yorkshire
• Lancashire
• Staffordshire
• properties in the Strand and City of London
• 50,000 acres farmland near Fylde, Lancs
• 20,000 acre grouse moor in Yorks
• Lands that belonged to Simon de Montfort, Earl of
  Leicester and Robert Ferrers, Earl of Derby.

www.duchyoflancaster.org.uk/
16
Duchy of Cornwall

• Personal property of male heir to the throne
• 128,000 acres in 6 counties
• 4,000 acres Isles of Scilly
• 160 miles or foreshore
• 11,000 acres riverbed
• 45 acres south of the Thames - including the Oval
  cricket ground
• 70,000 acres Dartmoor
• 1981 The Queen purchased Highgrove House for the
  P of W
• 347 acres

www.duchyofcornwall.info/
17
Crown estates

• Land given up by George the III for civil list
• 350,000 acres
• Revenue mostly from properties in London
• www.crownestate.co.uk

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Aristocracy

• 25 Dukes own gt 1,000,000 acres
• 66 of the landed nobility (200 families) own at
  least 5000 acres
• Duke of Northumberland 90,786 acres
• Duke of Devonshire 62,300 acres
• Earl of Lonsdale 69,000 acres
• Duke of Beaufort 52,000 acres
• Duke of Westminster 115,000 acres
• Duke of Buccleuch 277,000 acres
• Wills family 263,000 acres
• Lord Seafield 185,000 acres
• Countess of Sutherland 158,000 acres

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Ennobled industrialists

• Lord Leverhulme - soap 90,000 acres
• Earl of Iveagh - Guinness 24,000 Norfolk
• Viscount Cowdray
• Pearsons Publishing
• Financial Times
• Lazards
• 88,000 Scotland
• 10,000 Sussex
• Aristocracy also own large tracts of London

20
The Church of England

• Lost a lot of land during the Dissolution of the
  Monasteries
• Currently own 170,000 acres concentrated around
  Cathedrals
• Farmland accounts for only 6 of income

21
Oxbridge colleges

• 160,000 acres 66 owned by Oxford colleges
• Christ Church, Oxford 19,000 acres
• All Souls, Oxford 16,000 acres

22
Other colleges

• 80,000 acres

23
Government Departments

• gt 1,000,000 acres TOTAL farmland

24
Ministry of Defence

• WW II - Increased from 250,000 acres to
  11,500,000 acres through compulsory means
• Now own 700,000 acres - roughly the size of
  Northamptonshire
• Largest owner of protected or designated land
• National Parks
• SSSI
• AONB
• 25 of all MoD land

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MOD

• Lets 130,000 acres of good farmland
• Lets 130,000 acres of rough grazing
• Owns
• Salisbury Plain 92,000 acres
• Otterburn, Northumberland 56,000 acres
• Dartmoor 34,500 acres
• Wales
• Castle Martin, Pembroke 6,000 acres
• Eppynt 30,000 acres
• National Parks
• Brecon Beacons 1,500 acresPembrokeshire
  30,000 acres
• Immune from any public inquiries

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DEFRA

• 35,000 acres mostly Experimental Husbandry Farms

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Department for Transport

• 150,000 acres Motorways and Trunk roads

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Prison Department

• 6500 acres of farmland

29
Water Companies

• 300,000 acres

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Coal Companies

• 260,000 acres half let to farmers

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Rail companies

• 225,000 acres mostly derelict

32
Forestry Commission

• 3 million acres
• 66 planted
• England 757,000 acres
• Scotland 1,980,000 acres
• Wales 402,000 acres

33
National Trust

• Started with 4.5 acres in 1895 near Barmouth
• Now
• 400,000 acres
• 2000 farms
• 150 stately homes

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Financial Institutions

• Insurance companies
• Pension/Superannuation funds
• Property unit trusts
• Property bonds

35
Reasons for investment

• Diversification of investment
• Land has good record of capital growth
  (development for housing)
• Holds value in times of inflation
• Regular rent review

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Financial Institutions

• Electricity Board Superannuation Fund
• 35,000 acres in Carmarthenshire
• Pension Fund Property unit trusts
• 56,000 acres
• British Gas Pension Fund
• 7,500 acres
• Largest in terms of cash - Post Office Pension
  Fund
• 24,000 acres of land

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Foreigners

• 1979- Northfield Report estimated that 250,000
  acres owned by foreigners
• 10 of land coming on the market bought by
  foreigners
• Richard Norton Taylor (1979) estimates 750,000
  acres
• Now probably more due to Arab investment
• No hard data available

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Changing pattern of land ownership

• The pattern of land ownership has changed during
  last 100 years
• Owner occupation has increased while tenanted
  land has decreased
• Reasons
• Capital Taxation
• Tenant rights
• More profitable to farm in hand

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