Who owns London? | Theory

Who owns London? | Theory: "n the seventeenth century, London was the City of London. As the eighteenth century progressed, aristocratic land owners started to develop their land; the Earl of Bedford was first, with Covent Garden, then came the Earl of Southampton with Bloomsbury Square, and the Earl of St Albans with St James’s Square. The 1760s saw the development of the Bedford Estate in Bloomsbury and the Portman Estate in Marylebone, followed by the Grosvenor Estate, mostly in the early nineteenth century.   The developments were carried out under a leasehold system. The land owner would let plots to a developer or builder, who would build at his own expense. and at the end of the lease the development would become the property of the ground landlord. Funds would be raised for the construction on the security of the lease agreement. The landlords’ estate surveyors would ensure the quality and finish of the elevations. The system was of great advantage to the landowner, who could develop his land with little risk or capital outlay, gained and income from from the ground rent, and at the end of the lease, usuallly 99 years, the property reverted to the estate. At the end of the lease period, the estates would renew leases at increased rents or redevelop the land. "

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