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The Enfranchisement of Leaseholds, and the Taxation of Ground Rents, Chief Rents and Kindred Charges on Land in England and Wales
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 August 2016
Extract
The custom of letting land for agricultural or building purposes i s a very ancient one, the earliest records of such a custom being those which have been preserved in the Institutes of Justinian. From these records we discover that under the Roman Empire there were in use four distinct forms of leasehold tenure. The most important tenure was that known as Emphyteusis—a Greek word meaning planting—which was introduced in the 2nd century, and arose out of the practice of making perpetual leases of provincial lands belonging to the State and acquired by the rights of war. This tenure was afterwards adopted by private proprietors, who, through inability to devote sufficient time or trouble to the cultivation of their property, preferred to let it to a suitable tenant called the Emphyteuta, who agreed to pay an annual rent for the use of the land. Of a similar nature to Emphyteusis was the tenure called Superficies, by which a landed proprietor conceded to another person an area of ground for the erection of buildings without parting with the ownership of the soil. A third class was that known as Precarium, which, being equivalent to a tenancy at will, could be determined by the grantor at his pleasure. Lastly, there was a general system of short leaseholds, the usual term being five years, at the end of which the lease might either be renewed or be considered as one from year to year. In all leases the tenant was bound to pay the burdens attached to the holding of the land and to deliver the receipts to the owner (1).
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- Copyright © Institute and Faculty of Actuaries 1893
References
page 406 note 1 For fuller details as to tenures under the Roman Empire, reference may be made to the standard works of Hunter, Sheldon Amos, and Lord Mackenzie; as well as to Gibbon, Decline and Fall, vol. v, ch. xliv; and Seebohm, The English Village Community, ch. viii.
page 407 note 1 Hoskyns, Essay on the Land Laws of England; Kemble, The Saxons in England, vol. i, ch. ii; , Brodrick, English Land and English Landlords, p. 3 Google Scholar.
page 4078 note 2 , Pollock, The Land Laws, p. 20 Google Scholar et seq.; also Note B.
page 407 note 3 An interesting account of this custom is given in Elton, Origins of English History, ch. viii.
page 407 note 4 Kemble, The Saxons in England, vol. i, App. E.
page 407 note 5 , Thrupp, The Anglo-Saxon Some, p. 235 Google Scholar et seq.
page 408 note 1 Digby, History of the Law of Real Property, ch. i, sect, ii, § 3; , Milman, Annals of St. Paul's Cathedral, ch. vii, p. 136 Google Scholar.
page 408 note 2 , Pollock, The Land Laws, p. 34 Google Scholar; Digby, Sistory of the Law of Real Property, ch. i, sect, ii, § i.
page 408 note 3 For an account of the causes which led to feudal tenures, see , Palgrave, Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth, vol. i, p. 495 Google Scholar.
page 409 note 1 History of the Norman Conquest, vol. i, ch. iii, p. 97. Compare , Stubbs Constitutional History, vol. i, p. 261 Google Scholar; , Taswell-Langmead, English Constitutional History, ch. ii, p. 53 Google Scholar; Round, Art. on “Knight Service” in the English Historical Review for July and October 1891 Google Scholar.
page 409 note 2 Williams, Law of Real Property, part i, ch. iii; Pollock, The Land Laws, ch. iii.
page 409 note 3 Hoskyns, Essay on the Land Laws of England.
page 409 note 4 , Thrupp, The Anglo-Saxon Home, p. 18 Google Scholar.
page 410 note 1 , Williams, Law of Real Property, part iii Google Scholar; Pollock, The Land Laws, Note C.
page 410 note 2 , Seratchley, Treatise on Copyholds, &c, sect, ii Google Scholar; , Kemble, The Saxons in England, vol. i, p. 178 Google Scholar.
page 411 note 1 , Ellis, General Introduction to Domesday, vol. i, p. 258 Google Scholar; Williams, Law Seal Property, part i, ch. v.
page 411 note 2 Hoskyns, Essay on the Land Laws of England.
page 412 note 1 A description of curious forms of tenure in different parts of the country is given in Blount's Tenures of Land.
page 412 note 2 , Rogers, History of Agriculture and Prices, vol. i, p. 265 Google Scholar.
page 412 note 3 , Pollock, The Land Laws, p. 71 Google Scholar.
page 412 note 4 , Froude, History of England, vol. i, p. 13 Google Scholar.
page 413 note 1 , Green, Short History of the English People, vol. ii, p. 19 Google Scholar; , Rogers, History of Agriculture and Prices, vol. iv, p. 3 Google Scholar.
page 413 note 2 According to Sir F. Pollock and Mr. Wren Hoskyns, this Statute, which was passed to restore the ancient simplicity and notoriety of titles to land, became the chief instrument of secrecy and complication.
page 413 note 3 Evidence of Mr. C. Harrison before the Town Holdings Committee (1887), 8,226.
page 413 note 4 , Scratchley, Treatise on Copyholds, &c, sect, iii, art. 23 Google Scholar; , Grey, Church Leases, p. 10 Google Scholar.
page 413 note 5 Digby, History of the Law of Real Property, ch. vii, § 3; Shearwood, Law of Real Property, part ii, ch. ii.
page 414 note 1 Full details are given in Gasquet, Henry VIII and the English Monasteries. See also Hook's Church Dictionary, Art. “Monasteries.”
page 414 note 2 , Froude, History of England,, ch. i, p. 26 Google Scholar.
page 414 note 3 Quoted in , Cullum's History and Antiquities of Hawsted, p. 246 Google Scholar.
page 414 note 4 Brodrick, Essay on Primogeniture; Rogers, Art. “Land Tenure” in Dictionary of English History.
page 415 note 1 Digby, History of the Law of Real Properly, ch. ix. One effect of this Act was to render all freehold lands capable of being devised by will.
page 415 note 2 Evidenc e of Mr. J. R. Bourne before Town Holdings Committee (1887), 11,312.
page 415 note 3 Paper on “Leasehold Enfranchisement”, read before the British Association in 1888, p. 21.
page 416 note 1 See Mr. Bourne's evidence (1887), 11,313.
page 416 note 2 Wheatley, Art. “London” in Encyclopædia Britannica.
page 416 note 3 Diary, 12 June 1684 Google Scholar.
page 416 note 4 Essays on Mankind:—“Of the Growth of the City of London.”
page 417 note 1 Letters on, the English, p. 76.
page 417 note 2 Essay upon Ways and Means.
page 417 note 3 Social Life in the Reign, of Queen Anne, vol. i, p. 64. See also Report of Town Holdings Committee (1890), App. 16.
page 418 note 1 A List of these Acts is given in the Report of the Town Holdings Committee (1887), App. 5.
page 418 note 2 Notes and Queries, 1st Series, vol. x, p, 294.
page 418 note 3 Paper on “Leasehold Enfranchisement”, p. 29.
page 419 note 1 Transactions of the Surveyors' Institution, vol. xviii, p. 6.
page 419 note 2 On this last estate the tenants having unexpired terms of 40 years have been recently granted the option of converting their holdings into terms of 999 years.
page 419 note 3 See App. 2 of the Report (1887) of the Town Holdings Committee, where a detailed account of tenures of 261 English Boroughs is furnished.
page 423 note 1 1,000 Answers to 1,000 Questions, vol. i, p. 156; Town Holdings (, Cassell), vol. i, p. 22 Google Scholar.
page 423 note 2 Fo r reason of Leaseholds being Personal Property see Digby, History of the Law of Seal Property, ch. v, § 1.
page 424 note 1 This option is common in Eastbourne, Brighton, Worthing, Christchurch, Walsall, Westward Ho! and Carlisle. A draft of a lease granted on the Devonshire Estate at Eastbourne is given by , Woodfall, Law of Landlord and Tenant, p. 948 Google Scholar.
page 424 note 2 , Underbill, Leasehold Enfranchisement, p. 39 Google Scholar.
page 424 note 3 Se e Mr. Nott's evidence before Town Holdings Committee (1888), 14,149–51.
page 424 note 4 , Rogers, History of Agriculture and Prices, vol. i, p. 25,Google Scholar and vol. v, p. 805.
page 425 note 1 Mr. Bourne's evidence (1887) 11,223–39.
page 426 note 1 See , Rogers, Art. on “The History of Rent” in Contemporary Revieiw, April 1880,Google Scholar in which he traces th e progress of these tenancies from the reign of James I.
page 426 note 2 , Woodcock, Note on the Copyhold of the Manor of Clitheroe in Report of Town Holdings Committee (1887), App. 2 Google Scholar.
page 428 note 1 For an extended list of the objects of this Society see Report of Town Holdings Committee (1887), App. 1.
page 428 note 2 See Fabian Tract, No.22, “The Truth about Leasehold Enfranchisement.”
page 430 note 1 As Introduced in February 1893 this Bill includes all leases not held at a rack rental.
page 435 note 1 See Standard, 11 May 1885, and Mr. Boodle's evidence before the Town Holdings Committee (1887), 6,016–29Google Scholar.
page 439 note 1 Report of Town Holdings Committee (1889), p. 37 et seq.
page 441 note 1 Eighth Report by the Board of Trade (Bankruptcy), p. 6.
page 442 note 1 Transactions of the Surveyors' Institution, vol. xviii, p. 22. These figures, though hypothetical, may he fairly applied to the profits arising from the construction of blocks of City offices.
page 442 note 2 A complete list of tables is given in Mr. Tyssen's little work on “Leasehold Assurance.”
page 445 note 1 See County Court s Act, 1888, sect. viii.
page 445 note 2 The creation of a tribunal composed of non-practising surveyors is suggested by Mr. Sidney Woolf, Q.C., in a paper read before the Surveyors' Institution, see vol. xxii of Transactions.
page 446 note 1 , Kerr, The Consulting Architect, sect. viii Google Scholar.
page 447 note 1 Evidenc e of Mr. Mathews before the Town Holdings Committee (1888) 1,279–83.
page 447 note 2 Evidence of Mr. Hunt, 13,085.
page 448 note 1 Town Holdings (, Cassell), vol. i, p. 26 Google Scholar.
page 449 note 1 , Dowell, History of Taxation, vol. iii, ch. i, sect. i Google Scholar.
page 449 note 2 Dowell, vol. iii, ch. i, sect, ii.
page 449 note 3 Dowell, vol. iii, ch. i, sect. iii. See also , Stephen, Commentaries of the Laws of England, vol. ii, ch. vii, p. 567 Google Scholar.
page 449 note 4 Th e inequalities of this tax were due partly to the double taxation of land belonging to Roman Catholics, and partly to the fact that after the Revolution owners returned their property at a high or low value, according as they supported or opposed the new Government.
page 450 note 1 For a detailed history of the Land Tax during the last two centuries see Report of the National Debt Commissioners (1891), p. 199 Google Scholar.
page 451 note 1 See Dowell, History of Taxation, vol. iii, eh. ii; also Buxton and Barnes, Handbook to the Death Duties, where their distribution between real and personal property is discussed.
page 453 note 1 Burns, Justice of the Peace, vol. iv, ch, i, “The Poor Laws.”
page 453 note 2 For a description of the burdens of a London householder in the middle of the 18th century see , Besant, London, ch. ix, p. 363 Google Scholar.
page 454 note 1 Transactions of the Social Science Association (1873), p. 535 Google Scholar.
page 455 note 1 Evidence of Mr. C. Harrison before the Town Holdings Committee (1890), 3,548. See also , Goschen, Reports and Speeches on Local Taxation, p. 161 Google Scholar.
page 456 note 1 See Economist, 11 October 1890 Google Scholar.
page 456 note 2 , Owen, Manual for Overseers, p. 105 et seq Google Scholar.
page 457 note 1 , Chalmers, Local Government, ch. ii, p, 30 Google Scholar; Brodrick, Essay onLocal Government in England.
page 457 note 2 Manual of Political Economy, ch. vii.
page 458 note 1 Principles of Political Economy, People's Edition, book v, ch. iii, sect. vi.
page 458 note 2 Principles of Political Economy, ch. viii, sect. viii.
page 458 note 3 Art. on “The Incidence of Taxation on the Working Classes”, in the Fortnightly Review for February 1874 Google Scholar.
page 460 note 1 Reports and Speeches on Local Taxation, p. 168.
page 462 note 1 Evidence before the Royal Commission, 62,663.
page 462 note 2 Page 26.
page 463 note 1 , Hansard, Debates, 23 March 1886 Google Scholar.
page 464 note 1 Report of Town Holdings Committee (1890), App. 2.
page 465 note 1 , Hansard, Debates, 18 July 1888 Google Scholar.
page 466 note 1 Evidence before the Town Holdings Committee (1890), 1,257.
page 467 note 1 Evidence of Sir T. H. Farrer before the Town Holdings Committee (1890), 1405; also App. 8 of Report (1890).
page 468 note 1 , Hansard, Delates, 27 February 1891 Google Scholar.
page 468 note 2 , Hansard, Debates, 13 March 1891 Google Scholar.
page 469 note 1 Since the above was written, this Report has been presented to Parliament, The following is a brief summary of the recommendations of the Select Committee:
(1) That the real and apparent incidence of local taxation should be as identical as possible, and no one should be able to contract himself out of any tax imposed upon him.
(2) That existing contracts should remain unaltered.
(3) That under all future contracts, local rates should be equally divided between occupiers and owners, and that each owner should have the right of making a proportionate deduction from his superior owner.
page 469 note 2 Speech at Birmingham, 24 November 1891. Since this was written a change of Government has taken place.
page 470 note 1 Land and Income Assessment Act, Schedule A.
page 470 note 2 Art. on “The Local Taxation of Rent in London”, in the Contemporary Review for July 1888 Google Scholar.
page 472 note 1 See notes to Lord Hobhouse's Article.
page 472 note 2 The Taxation of Ground Values, pp. 8–14.
page 473 note 1 Art. on “A Fair Taxation of Ground Rents” in the Nineteenth Century for July 1891 Google Scholar.
page 474 note 1 Transactions of tie Surveyors' Institution, vol. xxi, p. 359.
page 475 note 1 Transactions of the Surveyors' Institution, vol. xviii, p. 291.
page 477 note 1 Art. on “Imperial and Local Taxation” in the Contemporary Review for December 1890 Google Scholar.
page 477 note 2 Evidence of Sir T. H. Farrer before the Town Holdings Committee (1890), 1243–70, also 1332–45.
page 478 note 1 A summary of the amounts invested in ground rents by the various insurance companies is given in an Article in the Bankers' Magazine for August 1892 Google Scholar.
page 480 note 1 See evidence of Messrs. Harrison and Logan before the Town Holdings Committee; also Mr. Wm, Macdonald's essay on “Local Government and Taxation in Scotland.”
page 480 note 2 See Mr. Cameron's evidence (1891), 4,492.
page 481 note 1 Report of the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes, p. 42. A minority of the Commissioners, however, dissented from this view.
page 481 note 2 The Committee have now reported on thi s subject as follows: “The proposal to rate vacant building land on its capital value is a total departure from the existing basis of local taxation, an d would be practically very difficult in operation.”
page 482 note 1 See Supplementary Reports appended to the main Report of the Royal Commissioners.
page 482 note 2 The London Programme, ch. xix, p. 202.
page 482 note 3 Evidenc e before the Town Holdings Committee (1890), 1,428.
page 483 note 1 The working of this principle in the United States is very ably discussed by Mr. A. A. Baumann in his recent book on “Betterment.” See alsoEly, Taxation in American States and Cities, part 3, ch. iv.
page 483 note 2 Repor t of the Royal Commission on the Housing of the Working Classes, p. 47.
page 484 note 1 See Articles on “Betterment” in the Contemporary Review for May, June and July 1890; also inGoogle Scholar Times, 27 January 1890 Google Scholar.
page 484 note 2 , Webb, The London Programme, ch. xvi, p. 167 Google Scholar.
page 485 note 1 , Hansard, Debates, 18 March 1890 Google Scholar.