306 BUILDING LEASES 



reasonable facilities, I mean absence of unneces- 

 sary and hindering by-laws, and advantageous 

 leasing conditions where it is not a question of 

 freeholds. 



One of the strongest arguments brought forward 

 by those who favour a system of land purchase 

 rather than one of tenancy is that the former 

 system removes the difficulties which exist in con- 

 nection with any form of lease where a man wishes 

 to put up his own buildings. Those landlords who 

 are averse to any scheme of peasant ownership might 

 profitably consider whether they could not remove 

 one of the chief arguments in its favour if they 

 could see their way to adopting more generally a 

 system of building leases. Their chief objection 

 is no doubt the risk of being ultimately left with a 

 heap of ruins on their hands. This fear is largely 

 based on the object-lessons presented by the present 

 state of ancient small freeholds, which are a survival 

 of more prosperous days. Where, however, the 

 conditions of the district have been favourable to 

 the continual success of the small holder, we find 

 these men not only keeping their houses in proper 

 repair, but building irreproachable new ones. For 

 instance, in the New Forest district it is not 

 uncommon to see the old mud cottages of the 

 original squatters used as farm-buildings by their 

 descendants, who have erected new brick houses 

 alongside. 



While discussing the question of building, a 

 word might be said on the present system of 



