HOME BUILDING PROGRESS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27496, 2 November 1954, Page 14

HOME BUILDING PROGRESS

SURVEY BY MR W. SULLIVAN PRIVATE OWNERSHIP FAVOURED The National Government wanted to see people owning their own homes and he looked forward with confidence to new housing records being created next year, said the Minister of Housing (Mr W. Sullivan) in the Civic Theatre last evening, after he had reviewed the progress made with homebuilding in the last five years. About 400 persons attended the meeting and there was a vociferous minority of Labour supporters which cheered and applauded every reference to Mr Nash and Mr Nordmeyer. Interjections were frequent, but practically all were unintelligible to Mr Sullivan and those in the front of the theatre. Last year 16,623 houses were built, compared with the Labour Government’s best year of 15,200, Mr Sullivan said. Since 1949, 81,200 houses had been built, and last year’s total was equivalent to three cities the size of Napier. Group housing had been a great success. To date, 377 builders in 61 towns had been allocated 6856 houses. Would the Labour Party stop the scheme? he asked. Some of Mr Nash’s colleagues had condemned it. The Opposition had said that the Government would stop building State rental houses, but it recognised a need for houses for people who could not afford to buy their own homes and for people who were subject to transfers. “We believe, however, that the New Zealander’s home is his castle,” the Minister continued. “Sixty-six per cent, of the people in this country own their own homes.” Quoting the labour force engaged in the building industry, Mr Sullivan said it had increased from 42,270 in April, 1952, to 50,660 in April of this year. Persons engaged in building houses totalled 13,088, compared with 11,433 two years ago. There had been an intake of 1742 apprentices to the building industry last .year, and they now totalled 6500. When he had sjtoken of the labour shortage in the building industry, Mr A. H. Nordmeyer. the president of the Labour Party, had said some control of labour should be instituted, the Minister continued. “How is that going to appeal to the tradesmen of the county??” Mr Sullivan said that while there was a shortage of houses it was not possible to remove the Tenancy Act, but the Government’s policy was to ease the restrictions year by year as the housir position improved. After si’ -'ing the Government’s record since 1949, Mr Sullivan said: “We have given you the first instalment of our policy, and I think the people like it”