But certain as it is that the “rate-rent” would represent a very considerable increase over the bare rent formerly paid by the tenants on the estate, it is still very much a matter of conjecture what the “rate-rent” would be; and we shall, therefore, be acting prudently if we greatly under-estimate the “rate-rent” which would probably be offered. If, then, in view of all the circumstances, we estimate that the farming population of Garden City will be prepared to pay for rates and rent 50 per cent. more than they before paid for rent alone, we shall reach the following result:—
Estimated Gross Revenue from Agricultural Estate.
| Original rent paid by tenants of 5,000 acres, say | £6,500 |
| Add 50 per cent. for contributions to rates and sinking fund, | 3,250 |
| Total “rate-rent” from agricultural estate, | £9,750 |
We shall in the next chapter estimate the amount which may, on the most reasonable calculation, be expected from the town estate, and then proceed to consider the sufficiency of the total rate-rents for the municipal needs of the town.
CHAPTER III.
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.