SIR,—In connexion with the replanning of London and other cities
to be done by Lord Reith, Mr. George -Cadbury, in your issue of October 25th, states that public ownership of the land is the only real solution for securing both a proper layout and the monetary betterment for the public benefit. Public ownership is the system long followed by the City Improvement Trusts in India. Large areas are acquired compulsorily by the Government for the Trusts under the Land Acquisition Act, the basis being market value plus i5 per cent. A clean slate is thus obtained and planning schemes are made, including roads and open spaces. Water, drainage, and sewer systems are installed. The land is divided into plots, which are disposed of on long lease, thus securing control over development and user. The Trusts obtain all the betterment. The history and methods of the Bombay City Improvement Trust, of which there are retired officers in this country, may usefully be studied.
A snag to avoid is acquiring the land with money borrowed at high interest and at a time of high prices, e.g., in a post-war boom, especi- ally when the price of land has been increased by the currency infla- tion usual in war-time, and then to have to dispose of it during the inevitable subsequent slump in the values of land. This unfortu- nately happened in Bombay causing difficulties to the Trust finances. Therefore the aim in this country should be to acquire the land at a time when prices of real estate appear to have fallen to their lowest. Another point is that in disposing of plots on lease the bulk of the price should be taken as far as possible in the form of premium, the rent being correspondingly reduced:. Thus the public body acquiring the land will be able to use the premia to wipe out the debt in- curred in acquisition and development, and avoid becoming a landlord collecting rents on a huge scale. Such rents, as has happened in Bombay, are very difficult to collect when times become bad. A public body, whether the Government, a city, or a Trust, is too much exposed to pressure to reduce its rents, especially on the part of the less well-off tenants.—Yours truly, J. P. BRANDER.
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