Urban Land and Property Markets in the United Kingdom

Richard Williams, Barry Wood, Richard H. Williams

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138490352
• eBook ISBN: 9781351035408
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Geography
• Index: Geography

Originally published in 1994, Urban Land and Property Markets in the United Kingdom, adopts a perspective that encompasses the distinctive nature of the legal framework, land law, property market and procedures of Scotland, England and Wales. The book provides detailed accounts of the structure of property, planning and tax law governing urban land and property markets, registration procedures and transactions charges, market processes and how they all work in practice. The book is based on a report commissioned by the German Federal Government as part of a five-country study completed in 1991.

PART I

Overview

CHAPTER 1

Basic information and context

1.1 Constitutional and legal framework

Constitutional framework

The United Kingdom is a unitary state consisting of two kingdoms (England and Scotland), one principality (Wales) and one province (Northern Ireland), all of which retain a distinct cultural identity. The Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey), the Isle of Man and various Crown colonies, such as Gibraltar and, until 1997, Hong Kong are also associated with the UK, but are not constitutionally integrated with it. Unlike the French overseas départements and territoires, they are therefore not within the European Community, and so are not included in this book.

The UK Parliament, sitting in Westminster, London, is the only legislature: no other levels of government have any legislative powers. Executive and administrative powers are also highly concentrated in central government hands in London. Parliament is strictly speaking the meeting of two institutions summoned by the monarch – the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The rôle of the monarch in government is for practical purposes symbolic only, but does include the final formal process of enacting legislation by giving the Royal Assent to Bills passed by Parliament, thus giving them legal force as Acts of Parliament.

The House of Commons is an elected body, with 651 members following the 1992 general election, the previous Parliament having consisted of 650 members (Whitaker 1992). Each member is elected to represent a defined geographical area known as a constituency. To be elected, each member must have received the highest number of votes (i.e. a simple majority, colloquially referred to as “first past the post”) at a general election or a by-election in the constituency for which they stood. There is no element of proportional representation in the electoral system and the relationship between votes cast for each party and seats obtained in the House of Commons is highly distorted, especially in respect of minority parties. Constituencies vary in size and population, and by convention there are assured minimum numbers for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The distribution is 524 in England, 38 in Wales, 72 in Scotland and 17 in Northern Ireland. In England the average constituency has an electorate of 65,000. Regular reviews of boundaries are undertaken in order to minimize the variation in size of electorate.

The leader of the political party receiving the support of a majority of the members of the Commons (designated MP: Member of Parliament) is appointed prime minister by the monarch. The prime minister in turn appoints government ministers. The most senior ministers (normally 23) form the Cabinet. In constitutional theory the prime minister is first among equals in the Cabinet, and there is collective Cabinet responsibility for the actions of the government. In practice, the power to appoint and dismiss ministers, and to advise the monarch to dissolve Parliament, gives the prime minister the dominant power. Ministers may be appointed from both the Lords and the Commons: the majority are in the Commons but the government must have a set of spokesmen/women in the Lords. In total, approximately 100 MPs are appointed to ministerial posts with responsibility for specified functions of government. A minister is individually responsible to Parliament for his or her assigned Department, and traditionally would be expected to take responsibility for the actions of that department.

Under the Parliament Act 1911 an election of the entire House of Commons is required at least every five years. The present Parliament was elected in April 1992. There must therefore be another general election before April 1997. The exact choice of date is by constitutional convention the choice of the prime minister alone, who decides when to ask the monarch for a dissolution of Parliament. The decision of the prime minister is constrained only if a government loses a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons (this last occurred in 1979) or if the five-year period has elapsed. Following the granting of a dissolution by the monarch, a general election follows within three-four weeks, normally on a Thursday. The leader of the winning party is invited by the monarch to form the next government, and is appointed prime minister, as soon as the outcome of a general election is clear. Transfer of power and the assumption of responsibility then takes place with immediate effect.

The House of Lords is an unelected and continuously existing body with a membership of approximately 800 hereditary Peers of the Realm and approximately 400 life peers appointed by the monarch on the direction of the prime minister, under the Life Peerages Act 1958 (Whitaker 1992). It also comprises 26 of the most senior members of the Church of England and 11 of the most senior members of the judiciary. Attendances can vary dramatically depending on the political agenda and the interest of members.

The rôle of the House of Lords is primarily that of a revising chamber, scrutinizing the details of proposed legislation and suggesting amendments.

Legislation must receive the approval of a majority of sitting members in both Houses. The House of Lords cannot reject legislation approved by the Commons but it can delay its enactment for one month in the case of legislation dealing exclusively with finance and two years in any other case. It therefore acts a check on the excesses of any political party enjoying a substantial majority in the Commons, a situation that commonly arises given the electoral system.

The 11 members of the judiciary within the Lords also form the supreme appellate court in the United Kingdom, although in Scotland its jurisdiction extends to ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Abbreviations and acronyms
• PART I Overview
• 1 Basic information and context
• 2 The policy environment
• PART II The urban land market
• 3 The framework within which the urban land market functions
• 4 Prices
• 5 Ownership
• 6 Case studies of the land market
• PART III The urban property market
• 7 The legal environment
• 8 The demand for and supply of property
• 9 Case studies of the property market
• PART IV Conclusions
• 10 Evaluation
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• Index