PROPERTY RIGHTS

Waikato Times, Volume 124, Issue 20731, 15 February 1939, Page 9

PROPERTY RIGHTS

PETITION BY OWNERS RESTRICTIONS OPPOSED REPLY TO TENANTS’ CLAIMS Harliament Js to be petitioned asking that all forms of business property owners shall be permitted to manage their properties free of any legislative restriction. The plea is contained in a petition which has been in wide circulation in Auckland, and it was slated by the organiser, Mr E. Bull, In an interview to-day, that the petition is in answer to a widely-signed petition in which tenant occupiers of shops, ollices, warehouses, factories, hotels, residential fiats, and boarding houses wish to be placed under the fair Rents Act.. 1936. The petition is now being circulated in Hamilton. The property owners* petition is in two forms, one being signed by owners of freehold or leasehold estates in premises used for business purposes. The signatories oppose any -suggestion to bring business premises within the scope of the Fair Rents Act or similar legislation, contending that any such interference would be a violation of their titles as freeholders and leaseholders, and that it would amount to partial confiscation. It is considered that the only way to determine a fair rental for business premises is to ascertain what in the ordinary course of business a firm, business man, or company is prepared to pay for. them. Those engaged in business, it is added, are quite capable of handling their own affairs and making their own contracts, and nothing short of a grave national emergency, affecting the well-being of the State, could excuse interferenc by legislation with the sanctity of private contract. Rights of Landlords The second form of the petition is being signed by people interested as owners, lessees, mortgagees, tenants, or shareholders in real estate, or a-s ratepayers in any city, borough or town; and urges the Government not to extend further the expiry date of the Fair Rents Act, 1936. This form of petition gives dwelling house owners the right to register their protest. The petition goes on to state that the Act has fulfilled its purpose and any further extension would be an unjustified interference with private rights and the freedom of contract. The operation of the legislation discouraged private building and prevents progress, and the artificial restriction of rents reduced the rateable value of the properties affected and placed an undue burden of the taxation on properties not affected. The opinions expressed by a great number of owners, regarding the Fair Rents Act, is that landlords generally are being penalised by the Act on account of a small section of their number, which has exploited tenants in the past, but strong exceptior is taken to the “unscrupulous” reference and they feel strongly, as is mostly the ‘case of the dwelling house owner, that the Act should have clauses embodied to protect the landlord as well a* the tenant. Some modification of the Act should be made in the case of re-possession on the sale of a dwelling house to another person. Investors are not willing to lend capital for dwelling houses investments, and until the position is clearly defined regarding the expansion of the Act to business property, business property is not attractive to lenders. The Dominion Property Owners’ Petition has the official endorsement of the Associated Chambers of Commerce, which at their last conference in Auckland last November passed a remit advocating the repeal of the Fair Rents Act and its amendments.