HC Deb 14 June 1883 vol 280 cc555-6
MR. SEVERNE

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Whether, since the object of the Agricul- tural Holdings Bill is to encourage the employment of tenant capital on the land, the Government will introduce in Committee provisions to prevent the raising of the rates on improvements made by tenants for a reasonable time?

MR. DODSON

It appears to me that the exemption or abatement, as suggested, would work unfairly to other ratepayers, whose rates would be unduly increased. Moreover, the special cost involved in such an arrangement would, in the vast majority of instances, be out of all proportion to the modicum of relief afforded to the tenant.