Land ownership can be a lifestyle choice in its broadest sense – a way of life. It is one well suited to a growing number of people who wish to take control of their lives by creating more security, broadening their options and delighting in a renewed sense of connection to the earth. I am convinced that if more people could ‘see’ the possibilities of land ownership and the joy it offers, they would step confidently into a whole new culture, one offering a refreshing sense of purpose and meaning to life.

What is land management? It is whatever you do with your land. You could simply make a path to a suitable spot somewhere on it, put a bench there and watch it revert to woodland over the course of the rest of your life. Or at the other end of the scale, you could design a living productive landscape supporting human life in every way. You might go as far as to move the earth around and create banks and ponds and streams, you may create an edible landscape with multiple productive systems decorated with well thought out planting of blossom and bloom to nourish the eye. Your land management plan is what ever plan you choose to realise, modest or grand.

Reasons to own land fall into several categories, all of which inter-relate with each other to varying degrees. This in itself is another benefit of owning land, it fosters an inter connected and inter-relating sense of life – holistic living you might say. It’s a place to work, a place to play, a place to express your self and your values. It is also potentially a place of beauty and of security, and a route to physical as well as mental well-being.

Increased security

First up, land ownership provides solid lasting security. Even without government planning permission to dwell upon your land it is a means to provide food security. You can grow a reliable and abundant supply assuming the effort of setting up and maintaining a system of production. But your land is also a means to produce food of specific purity for optimal health. Not only can you guarantee supply, but you can guarantee the very best quality by growing yourself. In a time where anything not bearing an ‘organic’ standard is likely GMO this is becoming increasingly important for thinking people who do not wish to be human guinea pigs in that particular experiment.

Secondly, a secure and reliable source of clean water is priceless. Here in England where tap water is contaminated with estrogen-mimicking chemicals, antibiotic residues, chlorine and fluoride, as well as a whole host of other undesirables, a clean water supply is a massive asset. Digging a well or a bole hole can be expensive, but when values are carefully weighed its worth every penny. Testing is easy and water quality is most often a huge improvement on mains water, assuming there is no “fracking” in the locality. Also, bear in mind that groups of landowners coming together to divide larger parcels of land can share the costs and the benefits.

Land ownership also affords you security of productive capacity. You will never be destitute if you have land. There is always something you can grow to sell or to eat. And with imaginative planning and thinking the possibilities to produce are enormous even well within the bounds of conventional agricultural land use.

Lastly, land ownership offers you security of place. Don’t let that mental hurdle of government permission to build a house blind you to the practical bottom line of having a place to go. And anyway, planning permission can be sought with a long term plan. If you own a piece of the countryside with no outstanding loans on it, you have a wonderful asset in having exclusive right of use to some place that is yours. And yes, ownership is important – see below.

Health advantages

The land-based way of living is only really possible with land ownership.