That this is so, is attested by the way values of properties disposed of in earlier years have shot ahead. Land value is the one thing that should never be privatised. The radio spectrum is classed as land in economic analysis, the air being part of the natural order outside of man and his products. If a thin slice of air spectrum is worth that much, how vast must be the yield from the nation's surface land area. Land prices in Japan fell 7 per cent last year. . .
Land prices have further to fall yet.
In a further attempt to stimulate the property market and encourage urban renewal, stamp duty will be abolished on house sales in selected areas. Equally obviously, sellers will be able to raise the asking price to mop up this new advantage not enjoyed by similar properties outside the privileged exempt zones. Some of the most deprived areas are in any case dominated by local authority or housing association properties, which are either not for sale or are sellable only at depressed prices, so that stamp duty is an irrelevance. Workmen will not accept less than the going rate. The going rate of interest on capital will have to be paid, Therefore it is the beneficial owner of land who has to give.