ABSTRACT
The British land and property development sector has many distinctive characteristics. It is well-organized at national level, with bodies to represent the interests of land and property owners (the Country Landowners Association, the British Property Federation), a profession of property advisers (the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors), and a range of long-established substantial property investment and development companies. It has evolved from the traditional British patterns of landownership, with rural land held typically in medium to large holdings, and there are significant historic links between landowners and the financial sector (Massey and Catalano, 1978). Compared to many European countries, the development industry is highly oligopolistic, dominated by relatively few, large, regional and national companies and landowners. One result in the nineteenth century was that a key role was played by large landowners in urban development, building residential, industrial and commercial property for rent, on long leases and for sale (Dyos, 1961; Clarke, 1992). In some respects, the development of the planning system has built on this tradition of estate management and development, particularly in the new town programmes and the approach to comprehensive redevelopment.
