§ Mr. Porrittasked the Minister of Health whether his attention has been called to the memorandum by the Central 262W Valuation Committee on the preparation of the third new valuation lists; and whether he approves the proposal in this memorandum that rents current to-day are no longer abnormal or excessive on account of scarcity of houses?
§ Sir K. WoodThe reply to the first part of the question is in the affirmative. As regards the second part, I append extracts from the memorandum showing what was actually said by the Central Valuation Committee on the subject of rents current to-day. My hon. Friend will see that the terms of the memorandum do not support the interpretation which has in some quarters been put upon it.
Extracts from the Memorandum by the Central Valuation Committee on the Preparation of the Third New Valuation Lists.
Page 8. "The Committee are unable to accept the view that rents current to-day are necessarily famine,' scarcity,' abnormal or excessive rents merely because they are higher than the rents permitted under the Rent Restriction Acts.Page 12. "The Committee are not prepared to accept the view that, taken as a whole, rents which have been negotiated recently between owner and occupier cannot be taken into account for valuation purposes merely because they are relatively high as compared with pre-war rents or with net controlled rents'.