ABSTRACT
The election of the Conservative government in Britain in 1979 marked a significant change in the policy environment in which land and property markets functioned. A number of key policies were developed that have resulted in public policy having a certain form and direction that is now familiar to the property sector. The pro-market stance of government policy resulted in location decisions being left primarily to market forces. After the 1987 election, inner-city policy became more important, the Development Corporation experiment was extended and the City Grant system expanded. For the property sector the privatization programme has led to a number of new private sector firms with large land holdings. The government has introduced new guidelines that appear to encourage developers to offer planning gain to the local community. The objective of green belt policy was to stop the spread of urban areas by a policy of containment symbolized by maintaining a green circle of land around the urban area.
