§ Major BRAITHWAITEasked the Minister of Agriculture if his attention has been drawn to the rent per acre charged by the East Riding County Council for small holdings on the Wilsthorpe estate, Bridlington; if he is aware that smallholders are compelled to pay over four times as much for their lands as farmers in the same district 1514W are paying to landlords; and if he will take action to bring about a revision of these rents?
§ Mr. N. BUXTONI am informed that the actual rent paid by the tenants of this estate prior to its purchase by the County Council was £882 per annum for 638 acres or approximately 28s. per acre. There were then only two equipped holdings on the estate. The Council have erected 20 new houses and 17 sets of farm buildings, and have carried out works of adaptation at a cost of over £25,000. The estate now comprises an area of 604 acres let at a total annual rent of £1,429 or about 47s. per acre. The rents of the holdings compare favourably with those of similar equipped holdings let by other landlords in the district, and up to the present time there has been no difficulty in obtaining satisfactory tenants when any of the holdings have been to let.