THE REVENUE OF GARDEN CITY--TOWN ESTATE.
“Whatever reforms be introduced into the dwellings of the London
poor, it will still remain true that the whole area of London is
insufficient to supply its population with fresh air and the free
space that is wanted for wholesome recreation. A remedy for the
overcrowding of London will still be wanted.... There are large
classes of the population of London whose removal into the country
would be in the long run economically advantageous; it would benefit
alike those who moved and those who remained behind.... Of the 150,000
or more hired workers in the clothes-making trades, by far the greater
part are very poorly paid, and do work which it is against all
economic reason to have done where ground-rent is high.”--Professor
Marshall, “The Housing of the London Poor,” _Contemporary Review_,
1884.
Having in the last chapter estimated the gross revenue which may be
anticipated from the agricultural part of the estate at £9,750, we will
now turn to the town estate (where, obviously, the conversion of an
agricultural area into a town will be attended with a very large rise
in land values), and endeavour roughly to estimate--again taking care
to keep well within the mark--the amount of “rate-rent” which will be
freely offered by the tenants of the town estate.
The site of the town proper consists, it will be remembered, of 1,000
acres, and is assumed to have cost £40,000, the interest of which, at 4
per cent., is £1,600 per annum. This sum of £1,600 is, therefore, all
the landlord’s rent which the people of the town site will be called
upon to pay, any additional “rate-rent” they may contribute being
devoted either to the payment of the purchase-money as “sinking-fund,”
or applied as “rates” to the construction and maintenance of roads,
schools, waterworks, and to other municipal purposes. It will be
interesting, therefore, to see what sort of a burden “landlord’s rent”
will represent per head, and what the community would secure by such
contribution. Now, if the sum of £1,600, being the annual interest or
“landlord’s rent,” be divided by 30,000 (the supposed population of
the town), it will be found to equal an annual contribution by each
man, woman, and child of _rather less than 1s. 1d. per head_. This is
all the “landlord’s rent” which will ever be levied, any additional
sum collected as “rate-rent” being applied to sinking-fund or to local
purposes.
And now let us notice what this fortunately-placed community obtains
for this insignificant sum. It obtains for 1s. 1d. per head per annum,
first, ample sites for homes, these averaging, as we have seen, 20
feet by 130 feet, and accommodating, on an average, 5-1/2 persons
to each lot. It obtains ample space for roads, some of which are of
truly magnificent proportions, so wide and spacious that sunlight
and air may freely circulate, and in which trees, shrubs, and grass
give to the town a semi-rural appearance. It also obtains ample sites
for town-hall, public library, museum and picture-gallery, theatre,
concert-hall, hospital, schools, churches, swimming baths, public
markets, etc. It also secures a central park of 145 acres, and a
magnificent avenue 420 feet wide, extending in a circle of over
three miles, unbroken save by spacious boulevards and by schools and
churches, which, one may be sure, will not be the less beautiful
because so little money has been expended on their sites. It secures
also all the land required for a railway 4-1/4 miles long, encompassing
the town; 82 acres for warehouses, factories, markets, and a splendid
site for a crystal palace devoted to shopping, and serving also as a
winter garden.
The leases under which all building sites are let do not, therefore,
contain the usual covenant by the tenant to pay all rates, taxes,
and assessments levied in respect of such property, but, on the
contrary, contain a covenant by the landlord to apply the whole sum
received, first, in payment of debenture interest; secondly, towards
the redemption of the debentures; and thirdly, as to the whole of the
balance, into a public fund, to be applied to public purposes, among
these being the rates levied by public authorities, other than the
municipal authority, of the city.[8]
Let us now attempt to estimate the rate-rents which may be anticipated
in respect of our town-estate.
First, we will deal with the home-building lots. All are excellently
situated, but those fronting Grand Avenue (420 feet) and the
magnificent boulevards (120 feet) would probably call forth the highest
tenders. We can here deal only with averages, but we think anyone
would admit that an average rate-rent of 6s. a foot frontage for home
lots would be extremely moderate. _This would make the rate-rent of a
building lot 20 feet wide in an average position £6 a year, and on this
basis the 5,500 building lots would yield a gross revenue of £33,000._
The rate-rents from the sites of factories, warehouses, markets,
etc., cannot perhaps be so well estimated by the foot frontage, but
we may perhaps safely assume that an average employer would willingly
pay £2 in respect of each employee. It is, of course, not suggested
that the rate-rent levied should be a poll-tax; it would, as has
been said, be raised by competition among the tenants; but this way
of estimating rate-rent to be paid will perhaps give a ready means
by which manufacturers or other employers, co-operative societies,
or individuals working on their own account, would be able to judge
whether they would be lightly rated and rented as compared with their
present position. It must be, however, distinctly borne in mind that we
are dealing with _averages_; and if the figure should seem high to a
large employer, it will seem ridiculously low to a small shopkeeper.
Now, in a town with a population of 30,000, there would be about twenty
thousand persons between the ages of 16 and 65; and if it is assumed
that 10,625 of these would be employed in factories, shops, warehouses,
markets, etc., or in any way which involved the use of a site, other
than a home-building site, to be leased from the municipality, there
would be a revenue from this source of £21,250.
The gross revenue of the entire estate would therefore be:--
Rate-rent from agricultural estate (_see_ p. 36), £9,750
„ 5,500 home building lots at £6 per
lot, 33,000
„ from business premises 10,625 persons
employed at an average of £2 a head, 21,250
-------
£64,000
Or £2 per head of population for rates and rent.
This sum would be available as follows:--
For landlord’s rent or interest on purchase
money £240,000 at 4 per cent., £9,600
For sinking fund (30 years), 4,400
For such purposes as are elsewhere defrayed
out of rates, 50,000
-------
£64,000
It is now important to inquire whether £50,000 will suffice for the
municipal needs of Garden City.
FOOTNOTE:
[8] The question of the form of Leases to be granted is one which is
being carefully considered by the Land Tenure Section of the Garden
City Association.