119

8.—17b

APPENDIX 111. Letter from G. Ellis. The Chairman, Valuation of Land Commission. Having to attend Court in town this morning lam unable to be present at your Court. My wife has papers that you might peruse, which will show that I am rated just double the value of the. house and land. The house and land is under offer to me by the Government for £495 ; papers to prove. My place is one of the Government workers' homes. The land, as you will see, is valued at £800 an acre; the house is now just ten years old, and is in a back street off the Great South Road. Station Road, Otahuhu, Ist December, 1914. G. Ellis.

Copy of Government Valuation. [■This Valuation takes effect as at the 31st March, 1914.] The Valuation of Land Act, 1908, and, Amendment, Act, 1908. To Mr. George Ellis, Station Road. Take notice that I propose to enter your name on the district valuation roll for the Otahuhu Borough as owner and occupier of the following land at the valuation stated hereunder :—

If you desire to object, your objection should be posted to the Officer in Charge, Valuation Office, Auckland, so that it may be received not later than Objections should be signed by the objector, and the valuation number clearly stated thereon. They should be written on the official form, which may be obtained at any postal money-order office, or at the Valuation Offices at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Invercargill. P. W. Flanagan, Valuer-General. Copy of Letter from Superintendent, Workers' Dwellings Department. Dear Sir, — Department of Labour, Wellington, Bth August, 1912. I am in receipt of your letters of the 2nd and 6th instant, re the purchase of the worker's dwelling which you at present occupy under a twenty-five years' lease. Under the lease you are paying rent at the rate of 1 Is. 3d. per week, and at the end of twentyfive years you will be no better off than when you started. Under the purchase system, however, by paying an additional 3s. 6d. per week, or in all 14s. 9d. per week, at the end of 25£ years the house is your own. The original value of the property was £510. The valuation has now increased to £555, but the Department is offering the property to you at the original value, less depreciation (£495 lis.), and, moreover, does not require you to make the usual deposit of £10. You can, if you wish, pay off at any time in a lump the total amount owing on the property, or you can pay off at any time an additional amount of £7 or multiple thereof, thus reducing the period of future instalments. In the event of your entering into an agreement or purchase, and subsequently finding that you wish to dispose of the dwelling, you can do so to any person approved by the Board. Any other information you require you will find in the explanatory pamphlet sent you. Re grazing : The land on the other side of the railway-line has not yet been set apart under the Workers' Dwellings Act, and is, therefore, still under the control of the Lands Department. Yours faithfully, J. Lomas, Superintendent Workers' Dwellings, Mr. G. Ellis, Station Road, Otahuhu, Auckland.

Report on above from Valuer-General. The Chairman, Valuation of Land Commission, Wellington. Referring to your memorandum of the 18th instant, on the subject of a complaint by G. Ellis, of Otahuhu, that land of which he is the occupier has been raised in value, I have to state that the fact, that the Labour Department offers the lessees of workers' homes the freehold of their holdings under the provisions of the Workers' Dwellings Act, 1910, at their original capital value does not influence the Valuation Department in determining values. If it is found on revision that values of the allotments have fallen or have increased, the values are determined accordingly, quite irrespective of any other consideration than that of the maintenance of general uniformity of land-value throughout the locality. If the objector states that the house on the allotment in question is a jerry-built structure (which I discredit), and the property as a whole has been overvalued, he can apply for a revaluation under section 36 of the Valuation of Land Act, and an opportunity will be afforded him of proving his statements before, the Assessment Court. F. W. Flanagan, Valuer-General, Valuation Department, Wellington, 25th January, 1915,

Valuation No. 1/117/212 Description of Land. Area. A. B. P. Lot 22, Station Road 0 10 'i Capital Value. £ 630 i ifct'in InCeTt'ln ,« *ff& j Unloved Unimproved sgftjSS.. J$Sk £ £ £ £ 200 .. 430