Please join us for the latest WISERD Lunchtime Seminar at 12pm, on 6 March, presented by Dr Bryonny Goodwin-Hawkins (CCRI). Please email wiserd.events@cardiff.ac.uk if you would like to join.
Land Value Tax as local tax: What can be learnt from research and practice?
Property taxation is a cornerstone of sub-national government finance worldwide and is increasingly seen as a tool for fostering local development. Land Value Tax (LVT)—levied on the unimproved value of land—has long been advocated as a more equitable and efficient alternative to conventional property taxes like Council Tax and Non-Domestic Rates. Recently, attention has turned to LVT’s potential to address a widespread housing ‘affordability crisis’ and to capture the value of public investment in place. Yet, despite strong theoretical appeal and recurring political interest, LVT implementation remains rare, and the empirical evidence base is limited.
This seminar synthesises findings from a multi-country review of local tax systems and a systematic review of LVT literature. I assess the state-of-the-art in knowledge, highlighting gaps in existing evidence and exploring the pragmatic trade-offs observed in practice. By situating these insights within the Welsh context, I reflect on opportunities to advance both research and policy design in local taxation.
Bio: Dr Bryonny Goodwin-Hawkins is Senior Research Fellow at the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI). An applied social scientist specialising in local government policy, she coordinates Living Labs in the Horizon Europe RUSTIK project and is currently a UKRI Policy Fellow seconded to the Welsh Government.