Fewer homes built

Press, 3 September 1977, Page 4

Fewer homes built

Wellington reporter The number of private houses completed in 1976-77 was the lowest since 1971-72, according to the annual report of the Housing Corporation. A table in the report showed that only Govern-ment-built houses kept up the total number of houses completed. There were 30,070 building permits issued for new houses in 1976-77, compared with 32,188 in 1975-76, 33,101 in 1974-75, 39,734 in 1973- 32,733 in 1972-73, and 24,333 in 1971-72. There were 25,600 private houses completed in 1976-77, 29.300 in 1975-76, 32,600 in 1974- 30,800 in 1973-74, 26.300 in 1972-73, and 22,400 in 1971-72. The demand for housing had “eased” over the year from the high levels of recent years, the Housing Corporation said. This reflected the changes

in migration flow, tightening economic conditions, the pressure of monetary inflation on living standards, and the deposit gap. Historically, building sector activity had corresponded with economic fluctuations, but the current trend was for the Government to cushion such effects to provide more stability for the industry. The Government had adopted a broad target of 28,000-30,000 completions during 1976-77, and had achieved 28,400 completions. The level for 1977-78 had been set at 26,000-28,000 completions. Candidate chosen The sitting member of Parliament for North Shore, Mr G. F. Gair, was selected as the National Party official candidate in the ‘General Election next year. No other nomination was received. — (PA).