Page:Old Towns and New Needs.djvu/83

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56
THE TOWN EXTENSION PLAN

accordance with our No. 2 scheme instead of our No 1, and we can take for our purpose the even figure of 15 houses to the acre as representing our No. 2 scheme. We find then that to supply 34,000 houses, instead of 100 acres we shall need 227 acres and in this way, the account for increment will work out as follows: —

227 acres at £500 £113,500
Less 227 acres of agricultural land at £50 11,350
Total Increment £102,150
Increment as scheme 1 £45,000
Increased increment £57,150

And yet the owners of land are afraid of Town Planning! Why the Town Planning Act may prove to be the handsomest gift this country has made to its land-owners for a very long time! I do not suppose, however, that the economic effect of limiting the number of houses to the acre will be to benefit the owners of land to this extent. I think it is probable that the reduction of the number of houses to the acre will be followed by some reduction in the price of land. But the figures show that even if there were no reduction in the price of land the tenant would be infinitely better off paying 11¾d, for a good big plot than he is at present paying 8d. for a little plot, always assuming that