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10.
I have just dealt with two rejected proposals for carrying
out the object of the legislation, i.e., the percentage scheme
and the proposal of a Rents Board. Other suggestions were
made with regard to the scope of the legislation. For example,
the two Chinese unofficial members asked that the bill should
be extended to office and godowns. They pointed out the un-
doubted fact that the rents of such properties have been greatly
increased lately, and they expressed the opinion that property
owners would try to recover their losses on domestic buildings
by raising the rents of purely business premises.
This proposal |
was rejected because the question of the rent of purely businesa
premises involves other considerations than those raised by the
question of the rent of buildings used for human habitation.
The object of the legislation is to ensure that the present
inhabitants of the Colony shall have somewhere to live, and the
Government were not prepared to extend this exceptional legisla-
tion to different problems. The influx of refugees has little
or no influence on the rent of offices and godowns. It should
be pointed out here that the Ordinance in fact does apply to
the great majority of purely Chinese shops and offices, because
such premises are almost invariably used by the Chinese for
human habitation as well as for business purposes.
11.
It was also suggested that purchasers of property should
be allowed to obtain possession of any portion of the property
which they bona fide required for their own occupation, even
if there were no alternative accommodation available for the
existing occupier. An attempt was made to draft a clause
to deal with this suggestion, but it was found very difficult
in detail. A more substantial objection was that a
purchase}]
if a resident, must already have somewhere to live, and, if a