MANY OBSTACLES

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 197, 20 August 1943, Page 2

MANY OBSTACLES

BUILDING OF HOMES PROBLEMS FOR SERVICEMEN The question of settling the men of the forces on the land when the war is over, or when they are discharged has been much before the public since the introduction of the Soldiers' Settlement and Land Sales Bill in the House, but one aspect of settling ex-servicemen which has not so far been prominent in debate is the plight of those who may desire to build homes for themselves through i private contractors. What applies to servicemen also constitutes an injustice to civilians generally. It is by common consent agreed that State house-building activities will not be able tp> cope with the needs of ex-servicemen, and private building will be necessary on an extensive scale if homes are to be provided with the rapidity necessary to meet the situation. Inquiries into the position of private building to-day reveal a most perplexing state of affairs and raise doubts whether the anticipated needs of the men of the fighting forces will be met. So confused has the actual situation become that men in the trade consider nothing but the most drastic alterations in prevailing conditions will afford ex-servicemen the opportunity they so richly deserve of building their own homes. State "Corner" in Labour In the first place, there has been something like a Government "corner" in the labour market. This has developed as a sequel to the decision that the regulations governing defence work be made applicable to Government housing. Under this system, if a carpenter goes to work on a Monday and it is too wet to start he may go home, and should those conditions persist through the week the carpenter must be paid £5 10/. As the defence regulations do not apply to private building, the effect will be that carpenters and sub-contractors will naturally prefer Government work to the jDrejudice of private jobs, leaving insufficient tradesmen for private building contracts. In addition, there will be an effect on costs. It is estimated that the serviceman building a home may have to face an increase of probably 5/ a square foot, making the cost from 25/ to 30/, which is approximately 25 per cent higher than 1941 charges. Further difficulties are foreseen unless the efforts to make, a building permit an authorisation for obtaining the necessary materials under a specification succeed. If there were a continuation of existing restrictions and regimentation in peace time, and if Government undertakings were to receive priority, the exserviceman who wished to settle himself in his own home would be greatly handicapped. Housing Priority Ex-servicemen will want to know whv State housing should have priority over private housing and whv they should be penalised if they wish to build their own homes. Government claims on building materials, through their effect on the cost of private building, will, if persisted in, place the men who have served in a most unfair position after the war. Another factor that, it is believed, will adversely affect the men of the forces who want to do their own home building, is the system of specialisation that has grown up under which floor boards, weather boards, scantling, doors and similar building commodities are turned out by certain timber yards and joinery firms. It is now practically impossible to get supplies through the mill; everything has to be done through the yards, which means additional handling charges. Price of Ex-Serviceman's Home One authority computed the position of a serviceman who wished to build a home as follows: The price of construction would be 30/ a> square foot. With 1000 square feet in the home, an average size, the total building cost would be £1500. Then there would be the price of a section, I perhaps between £300 and £400. The' limit of the Government loan for servicemen's house building was £1500, which left the servicemen a large margin to finance. The State charge on loans is 2/1 a week for £100 over a period of 35 years, 2/3 for 30 years, 2/6 for 25 years and 2/10 for 20 years. No ex-serviceman on an ordinary wage standard could afford those rates, plus the rates on second mortgage. The home visualised was an ordinary working man's dwelling.