OUTSTANDING INSTANCES OF RECOUPMENT TAKINGS
The English experience.—The first attempt of excess condemnation for recoupment purposes was made by the Metropolitan Board of Works, which had charge of public improvements in London from 1857 to 1889. This organization applied directly to Parliament for authority to condemn land in each instance. During this period, the board widened 14.13 miles of streets in London, condemning land worth $58,859,000; it recovered $26,608,000 from the sale of surplus land, which was 43.5 percent of the construction cost.
Northumberland Avenue improvement.—This is the only street opening or improvement in London where it has thus far been possible to recoup the entire cost of the project. Northumberland Avenue was opened through a section of rather low economic development between Trafalgar Square and the Embankment. Expensive properties and established businesses were not involved; the property was therefore acquired at a reasonable cost. The avenue created new economic utilities in its neighborhood and it was thereby possible to dispose of frontages at good prices. The project was completed in 1875 at a cost of £711,911 including the price of the land. The recovery from the land was £831,310. The profit to the public was about £120,000 or $600,000.
The Kingsway improvement.—The Kingsway is a wide thoroughfare connecting Holborn and the Strand. The improvement was proposed in 1836 but was a matter of controversy until, in 1899, when the serious opposition to the project was finally eliminated and the empowering law enacted.[1]
The law gave the London County Council power to condemn more land than was actually needed. This land could be taken specifically to recoup the cost of the undertaking, to protect the improvement, and to secure sites for necessary housing. The excess land could be sold or leased at any time within 60 years, and was subject to designated protective restrictions.
The street itself was about three-fourths of a mile in length and 100 feet wide. About 600 estates were acquired and demolished, entailing the freeholds, leaseholds, or trade interests of about 1,500 persons. Over 6,000 persons of the working class were displaced and had to be rehoused. The area directly affected comprised 28 acres, of which 15¾ acres constituted the surplus to be leased or sold as building sites. From these lands the London County Council is understood to receive about £143,000 annually in ground rents and the buildings erected on the lands have cost approximately £5,000,000. A sum of £966 a year is received by the council in respect of betterment charges.
A total of £735,507 has been received from the sale of sites andother sites valued at £225,191 were transferred in settlement of claims on a reinstatement basis. The total debt charges incurred for the improvement to March 31, 1936 (£5,209,563), plus the net debt outstanding at that date £3,208,607), amounted to £8,418,170. Against this the aggregate rents received, plus the value of the leased sites, amounted to £6,009,931. The difference (£2,408,239) may therefore be said to represent the net cost to the taxpayer up to March 31, 1936.
- ↑ London County Council Act, 1897, 60 and 61 Victoria, cap. 242.
