FREEHOLD AND LEASEHOLD.

Shannon News, 15 December 1925, Page 2

FREEHOLD AND LEASEHOLD.

♦ : A FAR-OEEING PIONEER. Sydney/ November 26. That people prefer the freehold ot | property to leasehold is illustrated strikingly by the story, revealed in a I letter to the Premier of Now South I Wales, of the historic Cooper Estate in I Sydney. The Cooper family, contrary to popular belief, never received, a grant of any description from the Gov- ! ernment, all the land they possessed having been acquired by purchase. The oiiginal member of the family was not orly a successful merchant, he was a mnn of very wide vision. Far back, in the days when Sydney, was a struggling and insignificant little town and when bullock waggons rumbled -.arough it, he saw the time when it would be a very important city, and he put the whole of his available money inio freeholds, which, it is safe to say, he got pretty cheaply at that period. Sir Daniel Cooper acquired roughly the whole of Woollahra —to-day one of Sydney's most populous and in parts, aristocratic suburbs —practically all the Waterloo and Alexandria, new busy industrial centres, large portions of Red fern, Neutral Bay and Rusheutter 800 leases had been entered into. Bay, all of them to-day thriving and prosperous suburban centres, as well as various country and city properties. Aii told, he acquired .a very fair slice of the metropolis and not a little of the country. Rather than part with the freehold of .this vast estate, he entered .into 99 years' lease, which later were reduced to 50 years. In all, more than The successors to the original Sir; Daniel Cooper received something of a shock when the State land tax was passed, for under it, despite the conditions in the Cooper leases, the lessor had to bear a proportion of the taxes, although he was unable in any way to increase his ground rent. Thus it came about that in 1900 the tenants were given an opportunity to acquire the freehold, and i:p to the present more than 650 of the leases have been sold, leaving a balance of 152. The Woolahra lands, which it would take a pretty penny to acquire to-day, were leased on the basis of £lO per annum, and the leases in what are now tire busy industrial centres of Waterloo and Aiexandrio. at from £2O to £3O per annum.