340
MANNHEIM.
A
Si
;
*
With the growth of industry and population in Mannheim there has been a
marked rise in rents. At the beginning of the new century there was a tem
porary decline in its fortunes ; many houses were empty, and rents fell. Since
1904 the demand for dwellings of the kind most needed has exceeded the supply,
and rents have advanced, as a consequence, to the extent of from 5 to 10 per cent.
A considerable amount of speculation has strengthened this upward tendency.
In the following statement of predominant rents paid for working-class
dwellings, tenements of one room with kitchen and of two rooms without
kitchen are classed together, since the cost is approximately the same. Tene
ments of a single room without kitchen are probably in most cases what are
known as “ divided tenements,” that is, tenements formed by the curtailment of
a normal suite of two or three rooms with kitchen, yet they play an important
part in the housing system of Mannheim. As has already been shown,
these tenements of one apartment form only 3T per cent, of all the rented
dwellings of the town, but of the 2,156 rent returns which have been collected
for the purpose of the present classification they form 14T per cent. The
returns relate to 2,156 dwellings of the following sizes :—
One room without kitchen ... 304 = 14T per cent.
One room with kitchen ...
Two rooms without kitchen
Two rooms with kitchen ...
Three rooms with kitchen
624 =
186 =
608 =
434 =
29-0
8'6
28-2
201
Predomina?it Rents of Working-class Dwellings.
Number of Rooms per Tenement.
Predominant Weekly Rent.
One room
Two rooms
Three rooms
Four rooms
Is. 5d. to 2s. 4cl.
2s. 9cl. „ 3s. 8c/.
4s. 2d. „ 6s 0d.
6s. OcZ. „ 9s. 3c/.
The rent includes, as a rule, the charge for water and the cost of refuse
removal and chimney sweeping.
Kent is high in Mannheim, the index number being 64, as compared with
100 for Berlin.
The local taxes to which the working classes of Mannheim, as of Baden
towns generally, are subject are a municipal income tax, based on the State
income tax, and a church tax, which in the case of mixed marriages must be
paid in moieties to both churches. The water rate is a separate charge, and is
generally levied by the landlord in the rent. The State income tax falls on all
incomes of £45 and above (before 1904 the exemption limit was £25), but the
municipality assesses lower incomes at the uniform figure of £5, since the
municipal franchise is based on the payment of local taxes. Incomes of £45
and above are taxed on a reduced assessment—£45 on £l0, £50 on £12 10a.,
£55 on £15, £60 on £17 10a., £65 on £20, £70 on £22 10a., £75 on £25,
£80 on £27 10a., &c.— and the State income tax is 2a. 4'8<Z. per £5
(2-40 marks per 100 marks) of assessed income up to £10, and 3a. per £5 on
assessed income from £12 10a. to £1,250. The effect is as follows :—
Income Group.
State Assessment.
£15
£50
£55
£60
£65
£70
£75
£80
£ a.
10 0
12 10
15 0
17 10
20 0
22 10
25 0
27 10
State Income Tax.
S. d.
4 10
7 6
9 0
10 6
12 0
13 6
15 0
16 6