6
part of Letter B holders to take on the exchange
offers.
Even prime industrial land has, on occasions,
attracted no serious interest. This explains, at least
in part, the apparently unfavourable comparison
Encls. 3 & 4 between the lists at Enclosures 3 and 4 of the lots
which have been disposed of by Letter B exchanges and
by other methods, respectively, during the last four
years.
The Cash Offer
2.5 The present rate of the cash offer in Letter B,
which is $17.00 per square foot, was determined in
April, 1976 on the basis of records in the District
Land Registries of the prices at which the most recently
issued exchange entitlements were then being bought and
sold in the open market. These market prices reflected
the view taken by buyers of the prospects for obtaining
new land, the appreciation of land values in the interim
period and also the ease with which exchange entitlements
could be obtained. The latter factor depends largely
on the amount of Letter B entitlement which is being created,
and the amount of land being made available to meet
the commitments therefrom, both of which factors are
in the hands of the Government. For this reason, market
prices of exchange entitlements may not be a fair basis
for the assessment of the compensation rate which
/Government