C—l

The Land Subdivision in Counties Act, 1946 This is an Act of twenty-two sections amending the Land Act, 1924, with respect to the subdivision of land outside boroughs and town districts. It is referred to in some little detail in the annual report on surveys (C-1a).

RECEIPTS The receipts for the year from all sources totalled £3,249,531. The receipts for the previous year totalled £2,445,659. Details are as follows :

POSTPONEMENTS, REMISSIONS AND ARREARS OF RENT AND INTEREST Rents and interest the payment of which, remained postponed at 31st March, 1947, amounted to £5,895. Arrears of rent and interest (including arrears in respect of the current half-yearly charge) totalled £131,716 while remissions for the year totalled £11,308. THE SERVICEMEN'S SETTLEMENT AND LAND SALES ACT, 1943 This report gives an account of the operations under this Act for the third complete year. Applications Applications numbered 46,995, showing an increase of 3,096 over the figures for the previous year. Urban properties accounted for 40,348 applications, while those made in respect of rural land amounted to 6,647. Despacch op Work In spite of the increased number of applications received, it will be noted from the return appended that the number disposed of is only 43 fewer than the numbers received during the year, a fact which indicates that not only the Committees, but also all those concerned with the administration of the Act, have made a good effort to cope with the increased volume of work. In the report for the year ended 31st March, 1946, there was mention of the tendency for prices between the contracting parties to become higher. In that year the amount by which contract prices was reduced was £1,593,404. During the current year the reductions total £2,525,564. Appeals It is now, happily, possible to say that appeals are up to date. Never at any time is there a substantial number of decisions outstanding, a fact which is favourably commented on by counsel for the parties and others concerned in sales. During the year 342 appeals were filed; in addition, there were some awaiting hearing. Of these, 33 were allowed in full, 128 allowed in part, 96 dismissed, 114 withdrawn and 35 referred back to Committee. There were 406 disposed of and 34 remain to be dealt with.

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Year ended I Year ended Heading. 31st March, 1947. 31st March, 1946. Rents, royalties, and interest £ 906,133 £ 890,577 Rates and miscellaneous receipts from drainage 39,843 34,276 areas Administration charges, fees, and other 110,165 97,094 departmental receipts Sales of land, improvements, repayment of 1,228,114 666,169 advances, &c. Farming receipts from development schemes 955,787 748,367 Miscellaneous 9,489 9,176 3,249,531 2,445,659