The results of a significant CLA-commissioned research project have demonstrated the monetary and social value of CLA member activities in their communities.
The multi-generational and diverse range of businesses that CLA members run means that landowners are often inextricably linked to the communities that they are part of. From providing infrastructure for broadband and renewable energy, to care farming and supporting affordable housing, CLA members are making real contributions to their communities and supporting a thriving rural economy.
While landowner contribution to the UK economy has been documented in the past, the social value they generate has not.
The CLA spent eighteen months working with the Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) of the University of Gloucestershire on a project to quantify and monetise the social value generated through the activities of members.
Through a member workshop and follow up surveys, the research first identified key areas where members are delivering social value. The information gathered in this first stage of work was then used by the researchers to design an online survey promoted to 18,000 landholding CLA members.
The survey comprised of 13 main questions and 145 subsidiary questions to examine the detail of their social value activities, the amount being invested in them and the numbers of people routinely benefitting. 300 CLA members completed the survey.
Professor Paul Courtney, who led the research said, “I’m extremely grateful to everyone who took part in the study for their time and energy, as without it a meaningful assessment of the social value being generated by CLA members would not have been possible. This kind of data is not easy to gather up and collect, and overcoming the barriers to undertaking this research has helped to shine a light on the substantial contribution that landowners make to the health and sustainability of rural communities, and indeed to wider society.”
Sally Ormiston, Head of Consulting at from Rural Solutions, who was not involved in the study, said, “This is a really important piece of work which so robustly starts to quantify the benefits delivered by landowners beyond the obvious economic contribution they make to our rural places.
“The role of estates in community life is particularly important and with a rural housing crisis, an aging population, declining services and unprecedented pressures on farming, rural community cohesion is more important than ever.
Often when bringing forward estate led development proposals – be they for housing, leisure or commercial developments – it’s important to articulate the wider set of benefits already being delivered, and the further positive impact that will be enabled by well-considered rural development.
“We look forward to being able to draw on this important resource to add further weight to these narratives as landowners invest in their futures, and those of the rural communities with whom their fortunes are so intertwined.”
Research results
By taking such a detailed approach to the research, the results cover a whole range of activities and gave a wealth of information and evidence to use in future.
The research has provided specific figures for the CLA to use in lobbying activities. For example, the survey showed survey respondents to be providing nearly 5,000 miles of statutory and permissive access to their land. What’s more, 61 per cent of respondents maintain public rights of way, at an average cost of £1,000 in addition to 11 person days per CLA member.
One area where there was previously little data was the contribution of CLA members’ activities to village social life.
The research found that community participation as a whole had a potential value of £2.5 billion per year. CLA members’ investment in village halls, play equipment, and places for people to meet amounted to £7,300 per year on average, with 1,530 people benefitting per member. Some 57 per cent of CLA members had hosted or supported community activities and events, benefitting 984 people per member at an annual cost per member of just under £3,000. Rural life can be isolating, so these activities are crucial to keep communities thriving.
But supporting community life is not the only contribution that landowners make. The results also show that around 20 per cent of CLA members are supporting people to gain vocational qualifications, and 12 per cent are facilitating opportunities for young people, including providing apprenticeships.
The biggest take away from the study was that these social activities are not happening by chance. The amount of time and money CLA members are routinely investing demonstrates that most social value generation is happening deliberately, rather than as a by-product of other activities.
As part of their analysis the researchers found that the businesses with larger landholdings engaged in more capital-intensive activities, like infrastructure and provision of broadband.
This suggested that access to capital is an enabling factor for larger businesses, and a limiting factor for smaller ones. In turn this implies that for landowners to keep delivering social benefits, their businesses must remain profitable, and this is something the CLA will make clear to ministers in future.
Another key message is that, while CLA members are investing their own time and money, this cannot replace public investment, which can enable the delivery of more activities (or perhaps more costly ones) alongside what members are doing to deliver better social outcomes.
The research covers many different aspects of social value, which will help us give a fuller picture of what landowners contribute to their communities and to society as a whole. This will be particularly important in the context of a general election where many candidates across all parties have little experience of the rural landscape.
Read the report, An SROI assessment of the social value derived from the activities of landowners