CORRESPONDENCE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12765, 16 June 1911, Page 8

CORRESPONDENCE.

SOME OBSERVATIONS BY A FOR^

MER RESIDENT.

(To the .'Editor.)

Sir, —Recently I visited Wanganui i fter an absence of ten years. As a former resident,' I probably toofc more than thi* usual -'jSkssing interest in the ionn which a visitor1 takes. Some of my reflations might prove of interest. 1 was stnuk-i-b-y its expansion and inipj ovement, but I was surprised to hear that you still retain the out-of-date method of rating' on rental values. This is_ an utterly absurd method. The working man who owns his house and bction on which he. lives is. actually I-ajing the rates* whitfi should be bonio by the land speculator, who is holding plots till a rise of price is forced up. .Whereas the householder pays say, ±/3 on rental value, the land jobber pays probably less than 10s in consequence ol l&ss rental value. Three unfair tbmss happen—-Ist,-' the .man improving his 'property is penalised for rso doing 2nd the land-speculator is on--9 bled to hold land longer^ and squeeze n larger unearned ihcrement but of a future purchaser. 3rd, the prices- of building sections are increased to such a fi titious value that rents -boiome exorbitantly high, and a working man can hardly make both ends meet. In pra.ti.e, the rating of unimproved lan-J values greatly reduces the tfates on houses and shops, and increases rates on unoccupied land, thereby forcing it into the market or causing the owner to build on it. T , The system has been in vogue in, Cliristchurch for- some years and works well. For' example, rate . collected on £580 capital value (value of house and land, et'j.) £1 16s 2dm on unimproved land valu3 £160, £.1 3s. The d'rt'rier. of a vacant section woukf pay as much rates as the owner of the next section which had a large house on it. I am told that tho residents of Wanganui are intending to build a bridge across the rivor and run trams over to Sedgebrook. Very good! But liojv unfortunate that they had not bought up some of the land on that side; of the river, at the old price before spending their: money to. increase the values of it.'The public money makes the value,; and the privata land spe -ulator gets it—-for whjat t Nothing that he has done. The Wanganui Council should purchase a large piece of fand. road it, lay sewers, gas arid water, and put asphalt paths and a tram route. Out.: into one-sixth acre building plots and let on renewable lease at.s per cent, per annum on its probable selling value. In addition to the 5 per cent, a rate amount should bo added on the unimproved land valuo s \ stem. Suppose land value was £200, and rates were £3. thon tho rent should be £13 a year. This would prove a valuable asset for the Council and would relieve, rates; while the leasehold tenure would be hotter for tho man-wanting to build his home. He would have less money to find and'less trouble in financing it. At the same time it would cost him no more, and probably less than the freehold He hva-YS £ e£ 5 Per cent, for the ±-200 he would have had to pay for the freehold, and as ho is only charged 5 per cent, it comes to tho same thin* in the long run. He would be no bettei off if he owned the land himself. J torahly some Wansanui residents aro deluded into an idea that high land values aro a sign of especial prosperity. Tins is an utter fallacy. Money locked up m land is kept out of industrial •nterpnsos. The high land values relit! Tspen, dl i gl'ow of the community. Land- kept for speculation ber _of persons. Population would inP°™r ™^ Christ Wh.jJ^JS™^