B 2
13. Interim Valuations.-Between 1st July, 1914, and 1st June, 1915, 466 Interim-Valuations were made as follows:-
City of Victoria Rest of Colony No. Rateable Value No. Rateable Value New or rebuilt tenements and tenements structurally altered, 232 $208,305 159 $94,821 Assessments cancelled, tenements pulled down or being in other respects not rateable, .. 47 $37,465 28 $14,598 No. and Increase, 279 $170,840 187 $80,22314. Appeals. The effect of the war on local trade, and the departure from the Colony of a very large number of Chinese who had come to Hongkong during the past few years from the Mainland, caused an extensive reduction in rents, the Districts principally affected being the Central and Western portions of the City of Victoria. In 299 Appeals against the adopted assessments of 1,516 tenements reductions aggregating $355,796 in Rateable Value were made by Order of the Court.
15. Vacant Tenements.-The number of tenements reported to be vacant and inspected under Section 36 of the Rating Ordinance averaged about 240 monthly as compared with 80 last year.
16. The following Table gives a comparison of the Assessments for 1914-1915 and 1915-1916 :-
District Valuation 1914-1915 Valuation 1915-1916 Increase Decrease Per Cent The City of Victoria, $11,945,570 $11,774,530 $171,040 1.43% Hill District and Hongkong Villages, Kowloon Point and Kowloon Villages, $1,600,022 $1,647,608 $47,586 2.97% Total, $14,410,103 $14,305,370 $104,733 0.72% $18,721 2.16% $864,511 $883,232