SHORTAGE OF HOUSES.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16883, 10 July 1920, Page 9

SHORTAGE OF HOUSES.

TO THE EDITOR OF "THE FRES3. 1 ' i Sir.—lll view of -the extraordinary |t scarcity of houses to rent, it is surely p in tho public interest tliat our local building by-laws should come under revision- Tho majority of people aro not in a position to bo owners of houses, | they are dependent on those willing t<> f| lease them. But the by-laws discour- $ ago individuals or syndicates, by mak- i| ing it impossible for them to entertain house property as ail investment, and a former popular method of invest- | mcnt is denied them, which partly ex- |\ plains why thero are scores wanting to g rent, to every single house that is avail- | able. The position could be met to a |i great extent by allowing persons with 'inroad frontage to buila terraews of | liouses, as was formerly the case. There >■ is not tho slightest chance of a slum f; being formed if this were done. Slums £ in the Old Land are m narrow, crook"- > ed lanes formed too close to other B lanes so that tho badly-built houses r, are, in many cases, almost back to back, with perhaps only a few foot of air-space between each house. These ;j slums, moreover, aro a survival of tho £ past, handicapped in the first place I»y t lack of room and badly-built as well, plus the effects of time and neglect. fj Owing to the comparatively modern f; lay-out of Christchurch it would be al- f; most impossible to produce such a slum J, hero. With the exception of some halt- k dozen instances most ol the streets aro laid at a distance of from four to live chains one from another, leaving amnio / room for backyards, therefore tho I; cramped backyard is impossible. On the tap of this, most of the streets arc a chain wide, and perfectly straight. It would take a real genius to inabu a slum under such circumstances, espe- '/ cially considering all building plans 'J havj to be submitted to the Council before erection. Seeing this is tho ease, where ia the rhyme or reason in pre- j; venting the erection of terraces. rtu urgent" is the need, that they should i: rather be encouraged. If it is desirable not to cut up land into very sniiiil : parcels though this is apparently not j; objected to in the case of business « sites), a law might provide that all such terraces should be confined under one i; title, so that a man building, say, si.v houses would not bo able to soli any *\ one of them, but would have to di:- jl pose of the lot, if he wished to dispo.-e of them at all. This plan would be of , distinct advantage to the tenants, us . the houses under those circumstance* would form a property investment on!v j ill the strictest sense of the word, and tenants would only be subject to a ' change or landlords. Kven then I thiiiic ; ' such'a.'i investment would be sufficient!;.- ! iittiactive to cause the erection oi such I tcrraces. A by-iaw eo.ild insist on them [ beinn; or bri-'k, if . a . snai'd capitalist would be giad to in- • ve-t in this kind of house property *; i where he is now compelled lo place 1;:money in ni.iny ca-ts outride l hrUt(church altogether. It is a pertecth |

sife and natural method of disposing of ono's cash, and would once more, in tho course of time, provide the renting houses that so many thousands oi people require. Properly built, and two or three stories high, and with room front and back on a chain street, how in the name of common-sense could they form a slum? The present bv-laws in this regard must be the resilt of panic Horrified at the slums of England, our councillors have rushed to the other extreme, and by so doing have probably, brought more hardship about than they have any idea, of They can hedge the above constructions with as ™any safe.ruards as they choose, subject, it ?s hoped, to common-sense, but it is realb/urgent that people who do not £ant an iighth of an acre of land, but a decent 5 or 6-roomed house to live in at a reasonable rent, should be; able to get one. -It is desirable in their interests that the mat% should be, «one into by the Council. It comes Within the scope of "sane town-plan-.fins." —Yours, etc., .»_-«