LAND SALE ABUSES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 85, 26 September 1947, Page 5

LAND SALE ABUSES

MR W. SULLIVAN’S VIEWS There was a tremendous number of black-market transactions through out the country, and in some centres such transactions were, estimated to be as high as 80 per cent, of the total, said Mr W. Sullivan (National, Bay of Plenty), discussing the Estimates in the House of Representatives. Members probably knew of cases where there was not sufficient evidence to justify an action against the original vendor, but nevertheless it was known that a tremendous amount of black marketing in land transactions was going on. Mr Sullivan said the legislation introduced by the Government required further consideration, as some abuses had crept in. The legislation was keeping farm land off the market, and also house properties. . It was also holding up commercial development. Mr Sullivan quoted the English legislation, which, he said, gave fair recognition to property owners. It provided that January, 1947, was to be taken as the basis of value for the whole country, whereas in New Zealand the basis was December, 1942. That made a great difference because costs in New Zealand had increased enormously since 1942, and, as had been pointed out, New Zealand currency had depreciated. In the case of property required for rehabilitation purposes, if it really was the intention of the Government to settle the men on those properties based on 1942 values, surely it was reasonable to ask that the people as a whole should make up the difference between the 1942 and the present values. If the legislation were amended in that direction more land and properties would be made available for rehabilitation purposes and there would be a greater turnover in house properties. Mr Sullivan suggested that transactions involving £2OO 'or less should be exempt from the legislation. Further, he advocated that in the case of higher valued properties they, too, should be exempt from the provisions of the legislation, provided such properties were not required in any way for rehabilitation purposes. He had in mind commercial properties of the value of £SOOO or over—not hotels.