$25m plans for more houses

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33512, 18 April 1974, Page 1

$25m plans for more houses

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, April 17. The State Advances Corporation has been allocated S2sm to buy houses direct from builders for use as State

rental accommodation.

Cabinet approval for the expenditure was announced today by the Minister in charge of the corporation (Mr Fraser), who said that 1000 such houses could be completed by March 31 next year. Meanwhile, the Minister of Works (Mr Watt) announced that where possible the Government, and hopefully local bodies, would allow houses to be built, in some cases, without the provision of all the usually required amenities such as sealed roads, kerbs and footpaths. Mr Watt said that he believed people would rather ihave a roof over their heads (first, plus a guarantee that i the work would be done and (all the amenities provided later. Mr Fraser’s statement said that the new dwellings would be in addition to the normal programme of State rental dwellings designed by the Housing Division of the Ministry of Works. They would also be in addition to contracts let by the Housing Division for Statei dwellings of builders’ own design. The new houses to be purchased by the S.A.C. would also be designed by private firms and it was intended that they should be built on firms’ own sections, i The Minister will be inviting large and small build-

ing firms to participate in the scheme. Mr Fraser said that the number of State dwellings , built in recent years had dropped sharply, from more than 2000 in 1960 to fewer than 800 a year over the last three years. The waiting list for State housing had more than ■ doubled between 1969 and 1972 and now stood at i almost 14,000. The small core of builders who had remained geared to building State dwellings designed by the Housing Division was now fully committed and alone could not relieve the acute need for lower cost rental housing. Mr Fraser said that it was’ most often young families and others in the greatest need of good quality housing who could least afford to compete for it and were now suffering the worst effects of the accommodation shortage. “These people can only turn to the Government for help.” Mr Fraser said the purchase of dwellings on builders’ own sections would help integrate State housmg with (the over-all community. Expenditure by the Government last year on the! purchase of residential land ■ was more than S4m to i March 31, with another s4m committed in land purchase negotiations. This was 800 per cent greater than the expenditure the previous year.