§ Mr. MILLSasked the hon. Member for Carlisle, as representing the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, whether, seeing that the income from the Bishop of London's Paddington estate amounted last year to about £50,000 sterling, he can state how much it was in 1920, 1910, and 1900, respectively?
§ Mr. MIDDLETONThe accounts appended to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners' annual reports to Parliament show that the amounts received by them from the Paddington estate were (for the year preceding 1st November in each case) as follow:
£ 1929 … … … … 48,271 1920 … … … … 22,861 1910 … … … … 19,752 1900 … … … … 15,398 The increased receipts have arisen partly from the falling into possession of properties of the smaller class, now in consequence managed directly by the Estate Trustees and well maintained, but chiefly from new leases and renewals of leases of houses of the richer class at greatly increased rents over the former ground rents. The property in the area of which the conditions have been adversely criticised is held against the Commissioners and the Estate Trustees on a lease for 2,000 years on terms settled in the year 1812, when the area was bare land and the ground rent receivable by the Commissioners and the Estate Trustees represents the value of the bare land, and does not amount in respect of each house since erected thereon by the lessees or their sublessees.