§ 11. Mr. Goughasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will state the price paid to Mr. James Lee in 1957 by the Crawley Development Corporation in respect of 174 acres of property known as Little Buckswood Farm; what has been the cost of developing this land since that date; what was the price obtained for it when it was recently sold for building purposes by the development corporation; if he will make a statement about the size of the profit made.
§ Sir K. JosephWhen Mr. Lee served a notice on the corporation requiring it to buy all his land it paid him £13,500 for the freehold of 179 acres plus £711 for loss of crops, tenant right and other disturbance. The combined cost to the corporation of buying and developing this particular area is estimated at about £4,500 per acre. My right hon. Friend does not think it right to disclose the price paid by a private builder for the 31 acres recently sold by the corporation because he thinks the builder is entitled to regard this as confidential. I can, however, say that the element of profit to the corporation was very modest.
§ Mr. GoughWhy does my hon. Friend seek to conceal this figure from the House? Surely it is right for us to know whether the profit is modest or not. Further, does he appreciate that it is commonly considered in Crawley that those who helped the Crawley Development Corporation and made no trouble 7 received far less compensation than those who dug in their heels and eventually had to be winkled out? Will my hon. Friend consider the matter again and ensure that justice is done?
§ Sir K. JosephI understand the strong feelings about this in any case of purchase by a new town corporation, but this was a commercial transaction, and the development corporation is obliged to get the best market price. I was able to assure my hon. Friend that in this case the element of profit was very modest. With regard to my hon. Friend's allegation that a different price was paid to those people who co-operated from that which was paid to those who did not co-operate so freely with the Crawley Development Corporation, I assure him that the corporation must take the advice of the district valuer, and his advice is bound to be of the same order in each case, whatever the character of the transaction.
§ Mr. PagetWould the hon. Gentleman tell us why only a small profit was made? The development corporation added enormously to the value of this land by its efforts and not by the farmers' efforts. Why is it inhibited from taking the value which it has created?
§ Sir K. JosephThe development corporation is not inhibited. In this case, evidently, it happened that the cost of making the land available was not very much below the market value of the land when sold.
§ Mr. M. StewartSince the Government's lack of policy has turned buying and selling land into a lottery, is it not gratifying that occasionally a public corporation wins some of the prizes?