for compulsory purchase. The value has to be determined in case of dispute by a single arbitrator appointed by the Local Government Board. The councils of West Ham and Sheffield have acquired land compulsorily under Part III. In each case a very substantial reduction was awarded on the price demanded by the landowner.

What may be done with the Land.-Land acquired under Part III may be either

(1) Leased to companies or builders or working men for the erection thereon of workmen's dwellings [sec. 5 Act of 1900]

or;

(2) The council may themselves undertake and carry out

(a) The erection of lodging houses, block dwellings, tenement houses or cottages [secs. 53 and 59].

(b) The purchase and improvement or reconstruction of existing lodging houses, dwellings or cottages [sec. 58].

(c) The purchase or exchange of land for the purpose of encouraging such construction, improvement, or reconstruction [secs. 56, 57 and 60].

(d) The provision of a garden worth under £3 per annum and not more than half an acre in extent [sec. 53].

(e) Fitting up, furnishing, and supplying the dwellings with all requisite fittings, furniture, and conveniences [sec, 59].

(f) Making any necessary byelaws and regulations [secs. 61 and 62].

(g) Selling the houses if desirable and necessary after a period of seven years [sec. 64].

(3) Any company employing workmen, any company established for constructing or improving workmen's dwellings, any private person or persons entitled to a freehold estate in land or to a lease for an unexpired period of 58 years may borrow from the Public Works Loan Commissioners at low rates of interest for not more than 40 years half the amount required to erect dwellings for the working classes, and may supply water or gas to the tenants free of charge or on favourable terms [secs. 68 and 69.]

How to get money for land and buildings under Part III(1) The London County Council may, with the assent of the Treasury, create consolidated stock, and under present conditions (February, 1902) provide for repayment within 60 years.

(2) London Borough Councils may, if the county council think fit, borrow from the county council (the period of repayment not exceeding 60 years) or from the Public Works Loans Commissioners (the period not to exceed 50 years).

(3) Urban district councils and town councils may either borrow from the Public Works Loans Commissioners or issue stock

or borrow on security of the rates, subject to the following conditions:

:

(1) The consent of the Local Government Board must be obtained.
(2) The period of repayment of the loan must not exceed 60 years.

(3) The amount borrowed, together with all loans under the Sanitary Acts (but exclusive of loans under special local acts, such as those in respect of gas and water schemes), must not exceed two years' rateable value of the district.

Two important points.--Part IV contains several supplemental provisions, the chief of which are—

(a) Any interested person voting as a member of a local authority upon any resolution or question under Part I or II of this Act incurs a penalty of £50 [sec. 88].

(6) Everyone who occupies a house or portion of a house at a rateable value not exceeding the limit for the composition of rates under sec. 3 of the Poor Rate Assessment Act, 1869, can sue the landlord and recover damages for any loss incurred by the unsanitary state of such premises [sec. 75].

Part V applies the Act to Scotland, and Part VI to Ireland.

Part VII deals with minor technical matters.

NOTE. Acquisition of Sites to be held for future needs.On the 30th June, 1900, a resolution was passed by a conference at Leicester, under the auspices of the National Housing Conference, urging upon the Government "the vital necessity of making it perfectly clear and explicit that local authorities should not only have power to purchase land outside their areas as already provided, but that they should also have power to hold such land against future needs." In answer to this, Mr. Chaplin, President of the Local Government Board, replied that when the Bill was in Committee, he had promised to consider, before the Report Stage, whether any further provision in the sense suggested was required, and he desired to draw the attention of the conference to the remarks made by him on July 1st, on the Report Stage of the Bill. The particulars as to this are as follows:

On July 1st, speaking in the House of Commons with reference to an amendment moved by Mr. Pickersgill for the purpose of making clear the power of local authorities to acquire and hold land for housing purposes against future needs, the Right Hon. Henry Chaplin, said :—

"There would be no limitation in the power of purchase, so "long as it was for the purpose and subject to the provisions of "the Bill; neither would there be any obligation to sell, unless "the land was not required for the purpose for which it was "purchased, and even then the Local Government Board would "have a dispensing power to say the land need not be sold."

On this assurance from Mr. Chaplin, the amendment was by leave withdrawn.

CHAPTER V.

MINOR HOUSING ACTS.

A summary of these is to be found in the Appendix, p. 61. They consist mostly of small amendments of the Housing Act of 1890.

The Housing Act of 1900 empowers local authorities to buy land outside their district for housing purposes, and to lease it, if desirable, to somebody else.

The Small Dwellings Acquisition Act, 1899, is given in full in the Appendix, p. 63, and a few particulars as to its working appear in a later chapter. It simply aims at enabling workmen to buy their own dwellings by means of a cheap loan from the State through the municipality.

LABOURERS COTTAGES AND LABOURERS (IRELAND) ACTS.

This series of enactments consists of the Acts of 1881, 1882, 1883, 1885, 1886, 1891, 1896, and 1897, but they are partly repealed by the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898.

Under their provisions the building of cottages by local authorities has been largely and successfully carried on for many years. The sanitary authorities have compulsory power to buy land, and can borrow money on the security of the rates.

One acre garden allotments can be provided with the cottages. The Acts have been adopted by 70 per cent. of the unions in Ireland. The principal provisions are

1881, secs. 18, 19, and 31

Sec. 19 empowers the land court in fixing judicial rent to impose conditions as to labourers cottages if satisfied there is a necessity for building new ones for labourers on the holding, and also to decide as to the rents of such new cottages.

Sec. 31 empowers the Board of Works to lend to companies, etc., for improving labourers' dwellings.

1882. Sec. 3 enables any labourer bona fide employed in the cultivation of land to secure from the land commissioner-where an agreement as to fair rent has been filed-an order for improving old or building new cottages on the estate and fixing rents of the same under a penalty of £1 per week.

Power to make a representation as to a deficient supply of houses. 1883. Sec. 4 provides that where a representation as hereinafter mentioned is made to the sanitary authority that the existing house accommodation for agricultural labourers and their families is deficient ... having regard to the ordinary requirements of the district, or is unfit for human habitation owing to dilapidation, want of light, air, ventilation, or other convenience, or to any other sanitary defects; and that such deficiency or sanitary defects cannot be effectually remedied otherwise than by an improvement scheme for the erection of other dwellings in lieu of or in addition to the dwellings already existing in the district, the sanitary authority shall . . . proceed to make an improvement scheme. [Sec. 10.]

Interesting details as to schemes under these Acts.

Sec. 6. The scheme shall avoid all interference with the demesne and amenity
of residence of the owner of the lands. . . or with any home farm,
and with due regard to the general situation and convenience of the
owner's properly.

Sec. 10. If the local authority refuse to make a scheme, a Local Government
Board inquiry must be held with a view to enforce a scheme.

Sec. 12. The local authority may

(1) Lease or sell land with provisions binding grantee or lessee to
build as prescribed, and maintain and repair cottages; and
(2) May prescribe maximum rents to be charged with rights of
revesting land in the sanitary authority if the conditions are not
observed.

Sec. 13 Cottages may only be let to agricultural labourers from month to
month; no sub-letting permitted.

1885. Sec. 16. The local authority may purchase and put into repair any existing cottage. and may allot half acre of land, and may purchase

...

land for the purpose of letting it to the tenant of such cottage, or may purchase and lease tracts of lands to be let out in allotments..

1S36. Sec. 4. Defines agricultural labourers as any man or woman who does agricultural work for hire at any season of the year on the land of some other person, and shall include fishermen, handloom weavers, etc.

Sec. 12. Compulsory purchase of land for allotments.

1891. Sec. 8. Local Government Board inspector to carry out Act on default of sanitary authority.

1896. Sec. 7. Local authorities may sell the cottages at a reserve price not less than costs and expenses of local authority and they must be offered first to owner of land; next to occupier; thirdly by public auction.

Housing Subsidies. Under the Land Purchase Act, 1891, it was provided (sec. 4) that for every £100 advanced for land purchase, 5s. should be paid to a guarantee fund and ultimately applied towards the cost of providing cottages in the counties where the purchased houses were situated. This money, called the "county percentage," was discontinued by sec. 27 of the Land Law Act, 1896, up to which time it had amounted to £8,805 12s. 11d., about half of it having gone to boards of guardians.

Sec. 5 of the Lands Purchase Act, 1891, provides for the payment of £40,000 (Exchequer Contribution) in every financial year out of the Consolidated Fund to a Reserve Fund, until £200,000 is accumulated, and afterwards to the Local Taxation (Ireland) Account for distribution as follows:

Each of the municipal boroughs to which the Land Purchase Act does not apply (Belfast, Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Londonderry, and Waterford, received £3,000) to receive such share as it would be entitled to if the money were part of the Irish probate grant; and the residue (£37,000) to be divided between the counties and applied towards the cost of providing cottages under the Labourers' Act.

In 1895, an order of the Lord Lieutenant, under sec. 4 of the Land Purchase (Ireland) Act, 1891, provided for the payment of all grants

connected with labourers' cottages into a fund called "The Labourers' Cottages Fund." The following are the conditions of the administration : (a) The fund shall not be distributed until it amounts to 100 in a congested district county, and £250 in the case of other counties.

(6) The sum accruing to each county shall be distributed (among those unions in the county which have provided cottages) in proportion to the number of cottages provided since the creation of the fund, and these shall be further distributed to each sub-district on the same principle.

(c) The money shall be primarily applied towards the repayment of loans. Particulars as to cottages erected.—During 1899, £29,977 was applied towards the cost of providing labourers cottages.

It may be mentioned that under the Land Acts three-fourths of the purchase money is advanced by the Government to be repaid by—

(i) An annuity of £3 17s. 6d. per annum for 49 years, together with

(ii) An annuity of 2s. 6d. per £100 advanced, to be applied like the county percentage (see above).

Up to 1899 the number of cottages applied for was 31,742, of which 16,056 were authorised, 14,034 built, and 13,936 let, as follows:

Weekly Monthly

Rent.

Arr's of rent Aggregate Rent. for the year.

Let.

£

£

The amount borrowed was £1,958,680.

In 1899, 1,453 cottages were proposed to be built at a cost of £205,560, the average cost per cottage being £142. The terms for loans were as follows:

Schemes under Part III of the Housing Act of 1890.— In this connection it may be mentioned that the total loans to local authorities in Ireland under Part III of the Housing Act of 1890, amounted to £293,040; also that an inspector was authorised to carry out the Acts in room of the rural sanitary authorities in Monaghan (39 cases), Donegal (38 cases), and Coleraine (7 cases).

Schemes have recently been undertaken in Dublin, Blackrock, Newry, Thurles, Waterford, Limerick, and Lurgan.