Municipal annual value must follow fair rent under applicable rent control law, even if fair rent is not yet fixed.

Annual value for municipal taxation under section 82(2) must be based on the rent the property may reasonably be expected to fetch, as controlled by the Rent Control law in force during the relevant assessment period. If fair rent has not yet been fixed by the Controller, the municipal authority must still determine it on the basis of the statutory principles governing fair rent, rather than adopt an arbitrary figure. For periods governed by an earlier Rent Control enactment, that enactment applies to the valuation. The municipality cannot enhance the assessment beyond the fair-rent limit.

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Issues: Whether the annual value of buildings for municipal taxation under section 82(2) had to be determined with reference to the fair rent or standard rent under the Rent Control law in force during the period of assessment, including cases where fair rent had not yet been fixed.

Analysis: The scheme of section 82(2) requires annual value to be based on the rent at which the property may reasonably be expected to let, which necessarily excludes an arbitrary figure and is controlled by the rent law applicable during the assessment period. The measure is the lawful rent that the premises can fetch from a hypothetical tenant. The absence of an actual fixation of fair rent by the Controller does not permit the municipality to ignore the rent control framework; in such cases the municipal authority must determine the fair rent on the basis of the statutory principles governing fair rent. For the period prior to the current Act, the applicable Rent Control enactment in force during the year of assessment governs the valuation.

Conclusion: The annual value for municipal tax purposes must be fixed in accordance with the fair rent determinable under the Rent Control law in force for the relevant assessment period, and the municipality cannot enhance the valuation beyond that limit.

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