£1.5M LOST ON STATE HOUSES LAST YEAR

Press, Volume C, Issue 29588, 10 August 1961, Page 14

£1.5M LOST ON STATE HOUSES LAST YEAR

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON. August 9. Losses on State rental units for the year ended March 31, 1961, when interest on capital was debited at 4 per cent, was £1.556,595, said the

housing report for 1960-61 presented in the House of Representatives today. The report said emphasis continued to be placed on the attainment of a higher density in the State rental construction programme and 55 per cent, of the units last year were flats and multiunit dwellings. The result was a worthwhile saving in housing land. For example, rescheming of housing subdivisions during the year for higher density achieved an increase of nearly 500 unit sites. City councils had been encouraged to build multistoreyed blocks of flats for rental in their inner areas. The shortage of sections, acute for many years, had greatly improved, because of the efforts of the Housing Division and the influence of the insurance leasehold scheme under which builders bought and developed land, erected houses, and leased the sections to purchasers of houses. In most cities and towns, with the notable exception of Wellington, the availability of sites was no longer a restricting factor, said the report.