Shrubsole who owns england5/12/2023 Guy Shrubsole, author of the book in which the figures are revealed, Who Owns England?, argues that the findings show a picture that has not changed for centuries. “Land is a source of wealth, it impacts on house prices, it is a source of food and it can provide enjoyment for millions of people.” “It’s simply not right that aristocrats, whose families have owned the same areas of land for centuries, and large corporations exercise more influence over local neighbourhoods – in both urban and rural areas – than the people who live there. Jon Trickett, Labour MP and shadow minister for the Cabinet Office, hailed the significance of the findings and called for a full debate on the issue, adding: “The dramatic concentration of land ownership is an inescapable reminder that ours is a country for the few and not the many. But a combination of the development of digital maps and data as well as pressure from campaigners has made it possible to assemble the shocking statistics. While land has long been concentrated in the hands of a small number of owners, precise information about property ownership has been notoriously hard to access. Major owners include the Duke of Buccleuch, the Queen, several large grouse moor estates, and the entrepreneur James Dyson. The figures show that if the land were distributed evenly across England’s population, each person would have just over half an acre – an area roughly half the size of Parliament Square in central London.
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