TENT-DWELLERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 192, 16 August 1938, Page 10

TENT-DWELLERS.

MT. ROSKILL FAMILY.

NOTICE TO MOVE SERVED. OFFER TO BUILD OWN HOME. Unable to secure a house in Auckland, a family consisting of a man, hie wife and three children, the eldest of whom is eight;, have been living in tents on a section in Stavely Avenue, Mount Roskill, throughout the winter months. They have now been ordered to vacate their thrco-roomed tent dwelling wh'di, though built on their own property, was erected without the necessr.ry building permit and, it is stated, does not eon:ply with the henith regulations The tent home lies in t> hollow. Ix, :s sheltered from the wind and is practically invisible from the upper road niiti from the lower road that skirt.-s the frontage of the house section on which it stands. There are no other houses in the immediate vicinity. The first impression of the home is that it id a rough wood and corrugated iron shack. Closer inspection reveals that the timber and iron merely clothe the canvas tents and shelter them from the worst of the weather. Corrugated iron also provides the roofing. Daffodils and Lilies. There has been an endeavour to beautify the surroundings, and alongside the house small gardens are placed. From the sodden earth spring daffodils and lilies. At the rear of the residence an ambitious vegetable garden, carefully tended, has been planted to provide the family with greens and root crope. The story the husband had to tell wae unusual. He brought his family up from New Plymouth last summer, as his wife's health suffered in Taranaki. For three months he was unemployed and drew £2 7/ a week in sustenance. Thie is not their first essay at tentdwelling, ae they lived in tente at New Lynn for two months before Christmas, but they -were unable to finance a proposed houee. Built For Sum of £ao. Later, they came to Mount Roekill, where they purchased the section on which their makeshift dwelling now stands, paying £5 deposit, the balance being paid off at the rate of 10/ a month. They decided that, with a section at their disposal, they could at least live until such time as they were able to get a house or arrange for one to be built. The erection of the tent home, with their own labour, cost them £20, including the timber, and they have lived there for many monthe, they state, without any discomfort. The husband is an ex-serviceman, who served with the Australian forces and is a qualified painter. He can also, he claims, put up a house. He has asked the Government to supply him with the material for a two-roomed house under the State housing scheme. He will undertake to put it up, the only proviso he makes being that the legal and valuation fees should be included in the total cost, so that it will not be necessary for him to pay out these fees in a lump sum. He stated that he had made formal application to the proper Department. Their notice to vacate their dwelling expired yesterday, but they claim that they were unable to get a house and could not be turned out until some arrangement was made for them.

"I knew it was illegal to erect a permanent residence without a permit, but I did not know that that was necessary in the case of a temporary tent home," said the husband. "The position is now that I am able to keep up the payments on a house, as I am in work at my trade of painting."

Comfortable and Neat. Though the present home does not look enticing from the outside, it is comfortable and neat inside. At either end is a bedroom, the centre being the kitchen. All the cooking ie done on an open fireplace and the family bath has to be taken in a makeshift fashion in the kitchen or bedrooms. The ground around the home is naturally very muddy following on the wet weather. The door of the kitchen is set flush with the ground on the side of the slope, but the rear of the dwelling is lifted clear of the ground and there is no damp inside. Trenches dug alongside carry off the storm water. The two younger chHdren, both girls, attend the Mount Roskill School and the eight-year-old boy goes to Brixton Road. The children appear quite healthy.