I am very glad to have the opportunity of contributing a few words by way of preface to this interesting study. It will be valuable to every student of the land question to have the facts — particularly as to its history — brought together so concisely and at the same time with such full documentary support.

A Paper given to the Henry George Foundation March 2012
Joseph Milne

In Chapter VI of The Science of Political Economy, entitled ‘Cause of Confusion as to Property’, Henry George asks why John Stuart Mill was so confused about the basis of property. He replies that:
It is evidently the same thing that has prevented all the scholastic economists, both those who preceded and those who have succeeded him, from giving any clear and consistent statement of the laws of distribution or the origin of property. This is a pre-assumption they cannot bring themselves to abandon – the pre-assumption that land must be included in the category of property and a place found in the laws of distribution for the income of landowners. Since natural law can take no cognizance of the ownership of land, they are driven in order to support this pre-assumption to treat distribution

Barchester Disctrict Council

The Business Rate is changing next April. The present UBR based on rental
values will be replaced by a charge based on the annual rental value of the site
on which your property stands.

Discussion Paper:
One technique for determining land values, and used in conjunction with others,
is the residual method. In principle, this deducts the value of the building from the
total value of the property to give the value of the site. But because rental values
are relatively stable but selling prices are volatile, the former figure is more
reliable as a basis for the valuation.

Barchester District Council
The Council Tax is changing next April. The present Council Tax with bands
from A to H will be replaced by a charge based on the annual rental value of
the site on which your house or flat is built.