18,400 State Houses Sold To Tenants

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30406, 3 April 1964, Page 3

18,400 State Houses Sold To Tenants

(From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, April 2. Since 1951 the Government has sold some 18,400 State houses to tenants for a total of almost £46 million. The latest figures, to the end of February, show net sales of 18,342 homes for a return of £45,854,630, an average of £2500 each. This is a net figure taking no account of 1264 repurchases by the Crown. Gross yearly figures are rather erratic but show peak sales in 1952, the first full year of the scheme, when tenants bought 3637 State houses.

The smallest sales, of only 336, were in 1961. The year ended March 31, 1963, saw a rise to 1159 and a similar figure is expected for the financial year just closed. Capitalisation of the family benefit to get a cash deposit for a home also continues to decline from an initial peak. For the first 11 months of the last financial year, advances authorised by the State Advances Corporation to applicants with Social Security Commission eligibility certificates were worth £3,770,000. Of the 6435 applicants, 4216

used the money to help build new homes and the rest put it to other housing purposes. The value of all such advances for 1960- was £6.6 million, for 1961- £5.4 million and for 1962- £4.6 million. The demand is expected to slacken further this year, partly as a result of the new policy under which the State will advance money to buy used houses.