HC Deb 27 March 1911 vol 23 cc896-7
Mr. NEWMAN

asked the Secretary to the Treasury (1) whether his attention has been drawn to the omission from Form IV., as now being issued in Ireland, of question (i) in the corresponding form in use in this country, the sum for which the property is worth to be let to a yearly tenant; and whether, in the case of holdings on which a judicial rent has not been fixed, he can say what information is possessed by the Tenement Valuation Office which would enable them to arrive at such letting value without first ascertaining the value placed on the same by the owner as laid down in the said question (i); and (2) whether his attention has been drawn to the omission from Form IV., as now being issued in Ireland, of question (h) in the corresponding form in use in this country; if the land is let by person making return state whether let under lease or agreement, term for which lease is granted, commencement of term, and consideration in money in addition to rent reserved; and whether he will state in the case of non-judicial holdings the records that may exist in the Record of Title Office from which the necessary information can be obtained?

Mr. HOBHOUSE

In a small proportion of the few cases in Ireland where a judicial rent has not been fixed and the land has not been sold under the Purchase Acts it may be necessary to get some further particulars not asked for in Form IV. In drafting the Irish Form the aim of the Commissioner of Valuation was to give the least possible amount of trouble to the owners of land consistently with getting the particulars necessary to enable him to make the Valuation required by the 1909–10 Finance Act. The information available in the Valuation and other Government offices goes to show that additional particulars, such as those referred to, need only be asked for in a very small proportion of cases; it was not, therefore, considered advisable to require all owners of property to give them.

Viscount HELMSLEY

Was not the giving of the least possible amount of trouble to owners of land a consideration in the issue of Form IV. in England?

Mr. HOBHOUSE

Yes, I think so.