HOUSING PROBLEM.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 63, Issue 220, 28 June 1943, Page 6

HOUSING PROBLEM.

INDICATION OF FUTURE PLANS.

Mil NASH SPEAKS IN AMERICA

“When wo start to plan for housing, on any national scale, wo arc in effect planning lor the future ol the nation. In words as clear an,d straight to the point as these the Hon. Walter Nash, New Zealand’s Minister to the United States, addressed a, joint meeting of the American Institute of Planners and New York Citizens’ Housing Council, says an article in the American “The Architectural Forum,” under the title of “Nash on Land Values.” __ Saving the complex details of New Zealand’s land-value taxation system, Mr Nash’s remarks were pointed: “T leel myself that hy far the most fundamental of the many problems, which, for want of a more adequate description. are broadly encompassed by the term social planning, is the provision of housing for the people. It is an issue in which everyone has a vital stake—layman and expert, soldier and civilian, young and old. It is an issue which goes to tl|e very roots of our national life. •

“I desire to emphasise that postwar planning must bo on a national scale and must provide for a scientific tax procedure, effective land utilisation, cessation of exploitation, and limitation of speculation, if it is to serve the ends we have in view. . . “If there is one immediate task that demands attention more than the other, I would say that that task is the building of more and better homes on a scale infinitely vaster than ever in the past.

“My own feeling is that the magnitude of the task which awaits us is such that it will offer ample scope for private enterprise to make the maximum contribution that it is capable of making. .More and more, however, we are being compelled to accept the need for a direct and positive role on the part of the Government in matters which, so vitally concern the welfare of the community.

“Wo simply cannot afford to pay the tremendous prices we have paid in the past by leaving such matters in the handijjr of those who acknowledge no social responsibility. Wo cannot afford to leave the way clear in the future for the predatory activities of the speculator, with the repetition of the muddle and the waste that must always result from unplanned development. . .

“To mention one further issue that is probably as fundamental as any, control over the use of land must always be the key to effective planning. Without such control we can only proceed haphazardly.

“With all the definiteness that might ho required, T affirm that benefits received should be based on services rendered, and the payment should be made to that person or body which renders the service.

“Values should belong to those who create them. Expenditure of taxes collected from the community should bo reflected in services for or benefits to the whole of the community. “This objective, I suggest, can best lie achieved through a system of rating on the unimproved value of land. ' In In the light of our experience, I am convinced that the taxation of land values in accordance with this principle secures the best results.”