SHORT OF HOUSES IN AUCKLAND

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21090, 15 February 1934, Page 10

SHORT OF HOUSES IN AUCKLAND

LITTLE BUILDING IN RECENT YEARS EARLY REVIVAL EXPECTED [THE FKBSS Special Service.] AUCKLAND, February 14. There is ample evidence in Auckland at present that the housing shortage is steadily becoming more acute. Even stimulus given to the .erection of homes last year by the i building subsidy scheme did not remedy the position to any great extent, and although there may be a large number of vacant houses in the city to-day, there is a very real shortage of modern homes within easy reach of Queen street. During the last three years 667 houses have been built in the Auckland metropolitan and North Shore districts, 31l being built last year, 171 in 1932, and 185 in 1931. The fact that nearly as many dwellings were erected last year as in the two preceding years combined is regarded as a definite indication that the cessation of building operations brought about by the depression during the previous years has had a pronounced bearing on the housing situation. it is stated by those in daily touch with the house and property market that the normal rate of replacement of obsolete dwellings and provision for the growth of population in Auckland should average approximately 400 houses a year. The last three years therefore have seen Auckland under-built to the extent of at least 500 homes, and an early period of marked activity in the building trade is predicted as a result.