HOUSING NEEDS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 147, 23 June 1945, Page 7

HOUSING NEEDS

RETURNED SERVICEMEN

PREFERENCE REQUESTED P.A. WELLINGTON, Friday. The New Zealand Returned Services' Association conference passed a resolution urging that priority equal to State housing should be given to building supplies and materials for ex-servicemen wishing to build their own homes. The conference also adopted a resolution that, in view of the large number of ex-servicemen and women (including war widows) requiring houses and the progressive deterioration of the situation with increased demobilisation, the preferential allocations of State houses be increased to 75 per cent.

The Government is to be urged to take immediate action to provide even temporary accommodation for returned men. Approval has been given to the action of the Dominion executive committee in requesting the Government to ascertain the number of houses not occupied'for the greater part of the year, particularly beach and week-end houses, and requesting that such houses be made available, with adequate safeguards, as temporary homes for exservicemen, owing to the desperate housing position obtaining at present.

Another resolution adopted was that luxury and unnecessary alterations to existing houses be , prohibited, available materials to be used for new homes for ex-service-men, hospitals, State houses and for urgent necessary repairs. Further, having been assured by the Director of Housing that this was the present position, that all local associations be urged to take every possible step to see these provisions were enforced in their areas.

The conference instructed the Dominion executive committee to endeavour to have implemented the decision that an independent commission be set up to investigate the whole cost of building in New Zealand, both direct and indirect, what could be done to reduce the present costs and the tendency to rising costs and what was the best method of providing housing.