this James did own property, he appears in the newspaper as having had his shop broken in to on 28 June 1905. Another son John also had shop property.
Is it not possible that he rented his shop premises? Even in this day and age many if not most shops are rented rather than owned by the shopkeeper.
At £22 for annual rent and a Feu duty of £1 5s as a proprietor can anyone tell me what sort of house he would have owned in 1920?
Annual 'rents' listed in the valuation rolls are a notional figure assessed according to a set of rules by the local authority. The rates (local taxes) payable by a householder or business were a proportion of the 'annual rent' or 'rateable value'. It is important to realise that the so-called 'rent' in the valuation roll did not represent what the occupier actually paid in rent to a landlord, if he was tenant rather than owner of the property.
The rules for assessment took into consideration the number and size of the rooms in the house, its amenities, and the amenity of the immediate surroundings. Theoretically the rateable value of a similar house with similar should have been the same all over the country.
If you lived in a rented house, as most people did, you paid three lots of money
- rent to the landlord who owned the property
- feu duty to the feudal superior, who owned the land on which the house stood
- rates (local taxes) to the local council to pay for the cost of running council services. These might or might not include water supply, mains drainage, street lighting and refuse collection, which were provided in cities but not necessarily in rural areas, so not all households had to pay this.
In the 1920s, the house I (later!) grew up in had a 'gross annual value, being yearly rent or value' of £33 16s and a rateable value of £34. It is semidetached and has 4 rooms and a kitchen on the ground floor, 3 decent-sized bedrooms, a small bedroom or boxroom, bathroom and separate toilet upstairs, and small gardens front and rear, with two sheds and a coal cellar. In 1902 this house was valued at £26.
Across the road is a detached single-storey cottage with a garden behind and a very tiny garden in front. I don't know how many rooms it has, as I don't think I was ever inside it, but in the 1920s its gross annual value and rateable value were both £20. In 1902 this cottage was valued at £10.
Have you seen
https://www.scottishhousemove.co.uk/uploads/files/SCT150178/schedule_SCT150178_11_11_2016.pdf -i looks as if this cottage has been extended by the addition of a lounge and has had two bedrooms created in the attic space.
