Sessional_Paper_1893 — Page 389

HONGKONG.

385

No. 26

93

THE ASSESSOR'S REPORT ON THE ASSESSMENT FOR 1893-94,

Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor, on the 17th July, 1893.

ASSESSOR'S OFFICE, HONGKONG, 19th June, 1893.

SIR,-I have the honour to submit my fourth Annual Report, on the Assessinent for the year

1893-94.

2. By order of His Excellency the Governor in Council, I have made a new Valuation of the whole Colony, which comprises the City of Victoria, the Hill District, the Chinese Villages in Hongkong, Kowloon Point, and the Chinese Villages in British Kowloon.

3. The City of Victoria is divided into ten (10) rating districts, and, counting each village, &c. as an unit, there are eighty (80) rating districts, or areas, in the whole Colony.

4. The number of houses reported to be vacant, and inspected under Section 35 of the Rating Ordinance, has been about the same as in the previous year, when I estimated the number of inspections at 3,500.

5. During the period from 1st July, 1892, to 1st June, 1893, Interim Valuations were made as follows :-

In the City of Victoria.

155 new tenements with a rateable value of

54 improved tenements with a rateable value of replacing existing assessments amounting to

$46,630

$67,740

$51,775

In the rest of the Colony.

143 tenements with a rateable value of re-placing then current assessments of.......

.$56,962 ..$27,112

The total Interim Assessments for the whole Colony being 352 tenements with a gross rateable value of $171,332 less $78,887, on account of assessments cancelled, leaving an increase of $92,445.

6. The result of the new General Valuation is that the Rateable Value of the Colony as a whole has increased by $6,247 or 0.17 per cent.

7. There is a decrease in the City of Victoria of $21,761 or 0.68 per cent. accounted for firstly by a continuance of the causes affecting the rental value of property, and secondly by certain tenements having been demolished since the last Valuation, and therefore not being rateable, and by property having gone out of rating in previous years, and not yet having been replaced. These properties include the new building for the Chartered Bank adjoining the Hongkong & Shanghai Bank, the Offices at the corner of Ice House Street and Queen's Road, the new store near to Messrs. LANE & CRAWFORD'S, 52 houses in course of construction upon the site of the Godowns, Praya West, near the Sailors' Home, and several other tenements in various localities. Nearly all of the properties referred to above will become rateable during the ensuing year, and I estimate the Rateable Value to be at least $40,000.

8. I estimate the gross loss to Rateable Value in Victoria attributable to depreciation in rentals at $129,340 equal to 4.08 per cent. This shows a slight improvement on last year's return when the reduction from this cause was $145,720 or 4.44 per cent. The gain from new and improved property is $107,579, which, deducted from the above mentioned $129,320, leaves a net decrease of $21,761 on the Valuation of the City of Victoria.

9. The Rateable Value of the Hill District shews a decrease of $6,030 equivalent to 6.46. per cent. 71.31 per cent. of this arises at the Magazine Gap District, where rents generally have fallen considerably. Since the Valuation was completed, I find that, in two or three instances, houses at the "Peak” have been let at improved rents, and there are indications of better figures being obtain-

able in the future.

10. In Kowloon Point there is an increase of $2,190 or 2.18 per cent. Yau-ma-ti and Hung-Hom shew increases of $1,470 (3.46 per cent.) and $929 (1.22 per cent.) respectively, Kowloon Villages, i.e., the whole of the Peninsula excluding Kowloon Point exhibit an increase in Rateable Value of $4,354 or 2.54 per cent.

11. Hongkong Villages have increased in Rateable Value $27,494 equal to 27.73 per cent. $16,822 of this is owing to the extensions at the Tai Koo Sugar Refinery at Quarry Bay. Increases are also seen at Aberdeen and Shau Ki Wan of $3,752 (19.69.per cent.) and $2,404 (20.61 per cent.) res- pectively.

Out of a total of 68 Villages in the Colony, only 9 have decreased in Rateable Value, the total reduction being $1,135 against an increase of $32,983 in the other 59 Villages.