THE HOUSING QUESTION

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 53, 4 March 1922, Page 6

THE HOUSING QUESTION

TO THS EDITOR. Sir, —There is no surer sign of the prosperity or impoverishment Of a country than the houses in which the common people li^e in. Now, I come to the question: what is the cause of the housing problem, for as the problem exists in so many widely separated parts of the world it must have some common cause? I affirm, without hesitation, that the insanitary dwellings, insufficient accommodation, and high rents, which are the three ■ characteristic features of the housing question all over the Dominion, are directly due to the system of municipal taxation under which, so long as the owner keeps his land unused, he is hardly taxed at all. The housing question is but part of the greater social problem which this age, more than any other, is called upon to solve, and in the of which neither charity nor philanthropy will be of the slightest avail. Now, the question arises: what rate would have to j>e charged on land values apart from improvements in order to obtain the revenue required? A few years ago the value of all rateable property in Sydney was estimated at £44,889,000, and the unimproved capital value at £20,207,812. In order to realise the same amount under the new system of reform as was obtained under the old one, a rate of 2£d in the £ on. the unimproved land value would have to be imposed, which would produce £188,448, or £7709 more than would be required. The present municipal taxation, which makes light on all unused and heavy on all improvements, tends to keep land out of use, and thereby to render it dear, to restrict the erection of houses, and thereby to render them difficult to obtaip'. Taxation oh land values apart from improvements would force vacant land into use, and thereby the land cheaper, would lower all house, rents, would increase the number,, and improve the character of all dwellings, 1 and by making land more accessible to labour would . lessen the number of the unemployed. Unfortunately, whenever land value taxation has been applied in the Dominion' for State revenue purposes, it has been marred by the tacking on it of exemptions and graduations which completely take away its democratic character. Applied equally all round land value taxation, apart from any improvements, whether for municipal or State purposes, is the most democratic legislation that has ever been devised. Applied unequally, it is tyrannical and unjust, and the reason is clear, for land values, having been'directly created solely by the presence and needs of all, belong by right to all, and. should* be handed over by all for the benefit of all. The sooner this is realised the better, to make democracy safe, and to have found a home in the.fair Dominion of New, Zealand. —I am; etc., , ' W. W. CORBI2TT, , Architect. 3rd March.