blocks, which were worked out in 1954 and revised in 1965, are considerably lower, as might be expected in view of the simpler type of accommodation. In these blocks, only the largest rooms attract rates, and for the standard room of 120 square feet the all-in charge is $18 a month, made up of $15 rent and $3 for water.
135. Shop and workshop rents in estates are determined by the size and location of the premises. There are four grades based on location, and shops enjoying the best trading situations adjoining main roads or hawker markets are charged more than those less advantageously placed. Shop units in the Mark I and II estates range in size from 120 to 310 square feet; the rent of a shop of 120 square feet varies from $40 to $100 depending on the grade. The rent includes an element for rates and water charges. As with domestic rooms, Mark III and IV estate shop rents are higher, a Grade A shop of 120 square feet in the urban area being charged $124.50 a month (including rates and water). Workshops are usually in the lowest grade as they are in locations least suitable for ratail trade.
136. Rents for units in resettlement factories are calculated on a cost basis, as with domestic rooms, but the capital cost includes the full upset price that would be set if the land were put up for sale by public auction, and it is amortized over twenty-one years with compound interest at 5% per annum. Here again rates are included in the rent payable by tenants. In the older factories, rentals for a unit of 198 square feet vary from $75 a month on the ground floor to $45 on the top floor, and in the newest factories from $140 to $65 for a unit of 256 square feet.
137. A schedule of the gross rentals charged for all types of resettle- ment accommodation is at Appendix 4.
138. Capital expenditure on estates and factories incurred by the Public Works Department amounted to $82,748,704 during the year, bringing to $729,453,337 the total spent under this head in the fourteen years of the Resettlement Department's existence. The department's annual recurrent expenditure has grown from $1,907,431 in 1954-55 to $33,161,813 this year, plus $366,831 spent on improvements to estates and licensed areas. Gross rents from estates and factories amounted to $61,905,443 ($47,957,666 nett after transfer of water and rates clements) during the year, and $31,322 or about 0.051 % were written off as irrecover- able arrears. This proportion is rather higher than in previous years, partly because the department has been writing off bad debts earlier
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