Leviticus 25:23 and the Location Value Covenant
“The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me." - Leviticus 25:23
This single verse is one of the most radical economic statements in the Bible. God declares that the land — the foundation of wealth and security — belongs ultimately to Him. Human beings are only temporary tenants, strangers and sojourners. Any “sale” was never a permanent transfer; it was a lease until the Jubilee reset returned the land to the original family. The system was deliberately designed to prevent generational dispossession and the permanent concentration of wealth.
Ancient Israel was given this mechanism because God knew human nature. Left to ourselves, we do not choose justice or stewardship. We prefer to collect economic rent rather than produce real value through work. Selfishness and ignorance win out. That is why the Jubilee was not optional or voluntary — it was a commanded reset by fiat every 50 years.
We have forgotten this ancient wisdom. In its place, modern economies treat location value — the unearned rent created by society through infrastructure, jobs, community, and collective effort — as private property that can be owned, leveraged, and hoarded in perpetuity. The predictable result is the recurring 18–20 year real estate boom-bust cycle. Recessions every 20 years or so are not random misfortune. They are the crude, painful substitute for the Jubilee we refuse to implement deliberately.The Location Value Covenant — A Modern Attempt to RememberThe Location Value Covenant (LVC) originated with Dr Adrian Wrigley. In 2007, we founded the Systemic Fiscal Reform (SFR) Group together and worked continuously on developing and refining the idea from then until around 2013, when Dr. Wrigley tragically took his own life. I played a key role in testing and marketing the concept in the field, standing as a candidate for the Young People’s Party in both the 2010 General Election in Wokingham and the 2012 Croydon North by-election, on a platform centred on housing access and land value reform.
In simple terms, the LVC is a voluntary covenant a property owner can choose instead of (or alongside) a traditional mortgage. The owner retains full rights over buildings and improvements — the capital they actually create. But they covenant to pay an ongoing charge based on the location value of the site (the unearned portion created by the community, not by the individual). This charge provides stable public revenue without new taxes, without confiscation, and without threatening the banking system.
On paper, it is an elegant, low-friction way to honour Leviticus 25:23 in a modern, urban, mortgage-driven economy:
I include myself in this. I own several properties and I do collect rent that includes location value I did not create. I am, in that sense, a perpetrator of the very system I criticise.
As the leader of a household, my first duty is to my own family — to protect them from financial ruin in the current environment. Working hard and earning through productive labour is heavily taxed, often to the point where it becomes a risky path that can lead a family toward stress or even bankruptcy. In contrast, collecting rent from location value is far safer and more rational under today’s tax and monetary rules. Any responsible householder will choose the course that best safeguards their household. I have done the same.
This is precisely why the ancient wisdom of Leviticus 25:23 is so piercing. Human nature under distorted incentives leads us toward rent-seeking rather than productive work. That is why the Jubilee was not a suggestion — it was a commanded societal reset by fiat. Voluntary reform alone is rarely enough. Without some form of deliberate correction, the economy supplies its own destructive version: the next property crash and recession (many analysts see signs pointing toward 2026).
The LVC remains one of the best practical tools available — a faithful attempt to live out the covenant of Leviticus 25:23 in today’s world. But my experience on the ground has taught me a dimmer truth: even the wisest, gentlest mechanism will be ignored by the vast majority until the pain of inaction becomes unbearable.A Call to Face RealityWe are all strangers and sojourners on land that ultimately belongs to Another. Treating location value as permanent private property violates that reality and invites the very instability we keep experiencing.
The Location Value Covenant offers a way forward that remembers the ancient command. Whether enough people — including current householders like myself — will choose it before the next cycle turns destructive is another question entirely.
I write about this realism more frequently now on NorthStokeLife.com because the evidence from the field is overwhelming. The wise solution exists. The ancient blueprint is clear. But human nature, and the incentives it faces, have not changed since Leviticus was written.
What do you think? Have you seen this resistance in your own household decisions? Or are you one of the rare few willing to consider a different path despite the personal risks?
Comments and real-world evidence are always welcome.
Robin Smith
NorthStokeLife.com
Systemic Fiscal Reform Group (co-founder)
Thanks to Grok here
This single verse is one of the most radical economic statements in the Bible. God declares that the land — the foundation of wealth and security — belongs ultimately to Him. Human beings are only temporary tenants, strangers and sojourners. Any “sale” was never a permanent transfer; it was a lease until the Jubilee reset returned the land to the original family. The system was deliberately designed to prevent generational dispossession and the permanent concentration of wealth.
Ancient Israel was given this mechanism because God knew human nature. Left to ourselves, we do not choose justice or stewardship. We prefer to collect economic rent rather than produce real value through work. Selfishness and ignorance win out. That is why the Jubilee was not optional or voluntary — it was a commanded reset by fiat every 50 years.
We have forgotten this ancient wisdom. In its place, modern economies treat location value — the unearned rent created by society through infrastructure, jobs, community, and collective effort — as private property that can be owned, leveraged, and hoarded in perpetuity. The predictable result is the recurring 18–20 year real estate boom-bust cycle. Recessions every 20 years or so are not random misfortune. They are the crude, painful substitute for the Jubilee we refuse to implement deliberately.The Location Value Covenant — A Modern Attempt to RememberThe Location Value Covenant (LVC) originated with Dr Adrian Wrigley. In 2007, we founded the Systemic Fiscal Reform (SFR) Group together and worked continuously on developing and refining the idea from then until around 2013, when Dr. Wrigley tragically took his own life. I played a key role in testing and marketing the concept in the field, standing as a candidate for the Young People’s Party in both the 2010 General Election in Wokingham and the 2012 Croydon North by-election, on a platform centred on housing access and land value reform.
In simple terms, the LVC is a voluntary covenant a property owner can choose instead of (or alongside) a traditional mortgage. The owner retains full rights over buildings and improvements — the capital they actually create. But they covenant to pay an ongoing charge based on the location value of the site (the unearned portion created by the community, not by the individual). This charge provides stable public revenue without new taxes, without confiscation, and without threatening the banking system.
On paper, it is an elegant, low-friction way to honour Leviticus 25:23 in a modern, urban, mortgage-driven economy:
- “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity” → location value is not yours to hoard forever.
- “For the land is mine” → the community-created rent belongs more to the common good than to any single owner.
- “You are strangers and sojourners” → we are all temporary tenants, not absolute lords of the location premium.
I include myself in this. I own several properties and I do collect rent that includes location value I did not create. I am, in that sense, a perpetrator of the very system I criticise.
As the leader of a household, my first duty is to my own family — to protect them from financial ruin in the current environment. Working hard and earning through productive labour is heavily taxed, often to the point where it becomes a risky path that can lead a family toward stress or even bankruptcy. In contrast, collecting rent from location value is far safer and more rational under today’s tax and monetary rules. Any responsible householder will choose the course that best safeguards their household. I have done the same.
This is precisely why the ancient wisdom of Leviticus 25:23 is so piercing. Human nature under distorted incentives leads us toward rent-seeking rather than productive work. That is why the Jubilee was not a suggestion — it was a commanded societal reset by fiat. Voluntary reform alone is rarely enough. Without some form of deliberate correction, the economy supplies its own destructive version: the next property crash and recession (many analysts see signs pointing toward 2026).
The LVC remains one of the best practical tools available — a faithful attempt to live out the covenant of Leviticus 25:23 in today’s world. But my experience on the ground has taught me a dimmer truth: even the wisest, gentlest mechanism will be ignored by the vast majority until the pain of inaction becomes unbearable.A Call to Face RealityWe are all strangers and sojourners on land that ultimately belongs to Another. Treating location value as permanent private property violates that reality and invites the very instability we keep experiencing.
The Location Value Covenant offers a way forward that remembers the ancient command. Whether enough people — including current householders like myself — will choose it before the next cycle turns destructive is another question entirely.
I write about this realism more frequently now on NorthStokeLife.com because the evidence from the field is overwhelming. The wise solution exists. The ancient blueprint is clear. But human nature, and the incentives it faces, have not changed since Leviticus was written.
What do you think? Have you seen this resistance in your own household decisions? Or are you one of the rare few willing to consider a different path despite the personal risks?
Comments and real-world evidence are always welcome.
Robin Smith
NorthStokeLife.com
Systemic Fiscal Reform Group (co-founder)
Thanks to Grok here