National’s housing policy criticised

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33981, 23 October 1975, Page 2

National’s housing policy criticised

(.X’eio Zealand Press Association) W “ WELLINGTON, October 22. A mortgage drought and instant unemployment were guaranteed if the National Party got the chance to withdraw Government support for home building, the Minister of Housing (Mr Douglas) said today.

He was commenting! on yesterday’s National Party housing manifesto. which said that National had no wish to see the Government become the biggest client of the building industry. Mr Douglas said that the Government had always j been one of the biggest homel lenders and builders, and had: to be so today. “Without Government support during the present economic situation, the building ! industry would fall flat on. jits face, as it did during past' [economic difficulties under National. “To preserve employment .and home-building capacity,' the Government this year is financing more than 18,000 new dwellings in whole orj part, out of a total of 32.000! :expected to be built.” When the former National ; Government helped finance ionly 8700 new dwellings ini 11972. production had barely: exceeded 22.000. and bad even dropped below the 1902 . level of 24.300. “This was National’s! hands-off’ policy in action —i 10 years to achieve a great stride backwards. If today’s Government programmes j were cut back to 1972 levels, there would be a building finance shortfall of SI 60m. Real meaning “What the National Party! really means when it says: [less State lending, and build-, mg. is fewer loans for private' home-seekers, fewer dwell-i ings for the elderly, and! fewer, rental dwellings in< growing towns and cities. It; means fewer jobs in the! building and related indus-i ■tries, which employ well over 100.000 people. “It’s al! very well saying .that the private sector can do more, but the National

Party knows as well as I do that the private sector just cannot al present. ‘‘The Government has a simple choice today: It either helps home seekers, and the building industry, with increased State lending and building, or it lets them both sink,” Mr Douglas said. In the future, the Government wanted to restructure the private mortgage market and to increase the availability of long-term private mortgage finance. This would stabilise the present fluctuations caused by New Zealand's overdependence on short-term finance. The review should have been undertaken by the National Party during its 12 years of office, but was not. “Once again they have offered only vague statements of intention, without a shred of real policy,” Mr Douglas said. ‘Helpful’ The National Party’s housing policy would do a great deal to help building societies provide housing finance, the president of the Permanent Building Societies Association (Mr D. B. Fea. of Invercargill) said today. Mr Fea said that his association had made repeated representations to the Government for an extension of the $lOO tax exemption on interest on deposits to the $3OO at present available to investors in savings banks, but without success. “The National Party has specifically written the extension into ’its election manifesto, and this will do a great deal to ensure that i building societies are able to! provide increasing amounts! of housing finance,” Mr Fea ! said. Building societies had about 500.000 members, and were the second-biggest

lenders of home finance after the Housing Corporation, he said.