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  1. #1
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    Default Rate Books (Houses requistioned in WW2)

    Does anyone know what happened about local rate payments on houses that were requisitioned by the military in WW2? If a house was requisitioned did the War Office pick up the tab direct? Or did the owner have to pay the rates and then claim back from the War Office? Are the rate books likely to show what happened? Thanks in advance.
    OckBexhill

  2. #2
    Super Moderator christanel's Avatar
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    Hi
    Have you seen The National Archive's guide on this subject? Here
    I haven't read it in depth so can't say if it answers your question.
    Christina
    Sometimes paranoia is just having all the facts.
    William Burroughs

  3. #3
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    OK and thanks.
    Yes, I've already seen this. Unfortunately there are no surviving records for Sussex at TNA.
    That's why I'm wondering about the rate books.
    I may have looked at these yonks ago (for a different reason) but cannot now remember much about them.
    I'm rather hoping that the rate books will show whether the rates were paid by, say, the WO.
    I feel sure that the owner would not have had to pay rates if a house had been requisitioned. I presume that the owner was paid some kind of rent or compensation. Perhaps there will be a note in the rate book to indicate something like this.
    On a different tack, any house that was requisitioned for troops would have suffered a lot of damage. I remember the stairs in a flat that my mother rented in the 1970s. Soldiers had clomped their way up and down the stairs in army boots - the carpet had been taken up by the pre-war owner - all the treads (the flat bits above the risers) had been broken off at the overhang. However, they had all been expertly repaired by a carpenter after the war. This would have been compensated, I feel sure.
    Thank you.
    O-B

  4. #4

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    I've spent a lot of time looking at Hansard - an intriguing subject. There's an answer given in the House on 23 Jan 1940 about requisitioning hotels and buildings.

    Most of the references I found in newspapers at the time refer to Councils "receiving payment in lieu of rates". There's something in the back of mind about the Government not paying rates, as such - may may well be mistaken!.

    Presumably you are talking about requisitioning the family home or similar?
    "dyfal donc a dyr y garreg"

  5. #5

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    Have you tried the Sussex archives or Family History Societies? You should find their contact info in the Sussex area of GENUKI.org.uk.
    Of course, there may not be anyone in their offices until the Lockdown ends...

  6. #6
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    Thanks for the replies.
    In due course I'll go to The Keep in Brighton but I just wonder whether someone with a knowledge of rate books can tell me the kind of information that they provide.
    My query is not directly related to my family history, but rather to a matter of local history.
    O-B

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