MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands, changes to Land Values and Service Provision Policy approved

A uniform un-serviced land rate of £20 per square meter be set for all industrial and mixed-use land, aligning it with the residential land value.

Changes to the Falkland Islands Government’s (FIG) Land Values and Service Provision policy were agreed by Executive Council this week. The Land Values and Service Provision policy sets out how FIG calculates the price it sells serviced plots, the price for un-serviced land and details the contribution to future servicing.

The Public Works Department (PWD) reviewed the policy, which was last updated in 2022, to assess whether the land values should be increased in line with the inflationary increases experienced since the approval of the original policy. The review also considered whether the hierarchy of the different land designations should be amended.

Having considered the options presented by the Director of Public Works, Executive Council approved the following:

• That the Land Values and Service Provision Policy be updated as proposed by PWD to improve clarity and to make it more user-friendly.

• That the revised policy consolidates existing land categories into just two: un-serviced land and residential gardening land, streamlining previous designations.

• That a uniform un-serviced land rate of £20 per square meter be set for all industrial and mixed-use land, aligning it with the residential land value.

• That the rate for residential gardening land be increased to £5 per square meter from £2.50 per square meter.

• That future land values undergo an annual review as part of the Budget Select Committee’s fees and charges setting process.

The mechanism for annual review contained in the updated policy will enable alignment with inflation.

Once updated, the policy will be available on the PWD section of the FIG website.