unearned increment

American  

noun

1. the increase in the value of property, especially land, due to natural causes, as growth of population, rather than to any labor or expenditure by the owner.

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unearned increment British  

noun

1. a rise in the market value of landed property resulting from general economic factors

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Etymology

Origin of unearned increment

First recorded in 1870–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

unearned increment

But severe levies on unearned increment jack up the rate in some brackets as high as the Federal tax.

From Time Magazine Archive

Adoption of the single tax would do away with the profits which come from land appreciation and are known as unearned increment or economic rent.

From Time Magazine Archive

Examine the argument in favor of the resumption by the state of what is called the unearned increment in the value of land arising from the development of society.

From Principles Of Political Economy Abridged with Critical, Bibliographical, and Explanatory Notes, and a Sketch of the History of Political Economy by John Stuart Mill

A further reason is based upon the supposition that large incomes involve a considerable unearned increment, in the shape of rent or extraordinary profits, because of accidental opportunity or the crowding of population.

From Rural Health and Welfare by George Thompson Fairchild

This unearned increment is now accruing to the Board on every acre that has been purchased.

From The Choctaw Freedmen and The Story of Oak Hill Industrial Academy by Robert Elliott Flickinger