It has been long recognised that the way land is organised and allocated in the UK is a key factor in many of our most entrenched social challenges, from the housing crisis to health inequalities. Despite this, not only is reform of the land system rarely high on the political agenda, it has also struggled to ignite lasting enthusiasm and engagement among political activists, let alone the wider public.
Why is this? A new report from the Future Narratives Lab and Shared Assets: ‘Power in place: understanding our land narrative’ provides one answer, outlining for the first time the underlying cultural assumptions and frameworks that together constitute a ‘narrative’ of land in this country, and explaining how these encourage both intuitive support for the core principles of the existing system, and pre-emptive dismissal of alternatives.
