FT Letters, 29th May 2026
Regarding Jonathan Portes’ column on the “three ways a new Labour leader could change the politics of growth” (Opinion ), any new UK prime minister must confront non-existent economic growth, a massive post-2008 transfer of wealth from workers to asset owners, and the tight grip of bond markets on sovereign policy.
Andy Burnham has rightly highlighted that land is “undertaxed”. As an asset accounting for 60% of UK Net Worth, land wealth is starkly unequal; half of England is owned by less than 1% of the population, while over a quarter of households in Makerfield own none at all.
Tax reform is critical to fund progressive social care and council house building. Fortunately, the bond markets Burnham has promised to placate by sticking to borrowing rules and avoiding hikes on productive taxes (like work and enterprise) need not be spooked. While taxes on trade and labor shrink economies, taxing land assets does not have the same adverse impact.
History demonstrates that a substantial Land Value Tax (LVT) stimulates productive activity and drives economic growth via three clear mechanisms.
First, it allows the replacement of economically damaging taxes.
Second, it encourages the efficient use of land, repairing a broken market.
Third, it almost immediately redirects investment away from speculative wealth extraction, like rent, and into the real economy where useful goods and services are created.
Burnham has indicated he would not go “straight to” a land value tax. But given its ability to foster growth while maintaining fiscal responsibility, we must ask: why not, Andy?
Yours faithfully
Murad QURESHI
Chair of Labour Land Campaign