Valuing the external benefits of undeveloped land

This report aims to provide a greater understanding of the economic value of different types of undeveloped land in the UK. Undeveloped land can provide a number of benefits, such as recreation, landscape, ecology, cultural heritage, hydrology, air quality and climate, tranquillity, accessibility and soil.

These benefits are often not reflected in the price of the land and are enjoyed for 'free' by people who visit a particular site or live nearby. Therefore, though such benefits or services have an economic value based on their positive contribution to human welfare, they have no market value as they are not traded in conventional markets.

As economists say, these benefits are therefore 'external' to the market. The implication of this is the creation of an uneven playing field between environmental conservation and development.

Communities and Local Government Website: Valuing the External Benefits of Undeveloped Land