Estate owners should make land available for affordable rural housing for inheritance tax breaks

Britain’s 5,000 largest rural estates could be induced to provide the land through partial inheritance tax exemptions or allowing heirs to avoid paying taxes on affordable properties let on their land

Could country estates such as Highclere in Hampshire, where ‘Downton Abbey’ was filmed, build affordable homes? (Getty Images)

Aristocratic estate owners should be encouraged to make land available for affordable rural housing in exchange for inheritance tax breaks, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has argued.

“We would like to see local authorities work sympathetically with estate owners to encourage the release of land for eight or more affordable houses, based on long leaseholds, which would allow estates to retain long -term interests,” said Jeremy Blackburn, head of policy at Rics.

The group said the owners of Britain’s 5,000 largest rural estates, such as Highclere in Hampshire (where Downton Abbey was filmed), could be induced to provide the land through partial inheritance tax exemptions or allowing heirs to avoid paying taxes on affordable properties let on their land.

Earlier this year, Lord Clinton, the largest private landowner in Devon, joined Cornerstone Housing Association to develop 19 affordable homes in Budleigh Salterton.

Mr Blackburn said that the provision of affordable rural housing by estate owners had a long history. “At the turn of the last century, owners of Britain’s largest estates took a more patriarchal approach to the provision of affordable housing. This wasn’t entirely philanthropic … it resulted in a settled and readily available workforce,” he said, adding that in some rural communities the average cost of a house can outstrip average annual wages 11 times.