Builders object to 'harsh’ treatment

Press, 7 March 1978, Page 2

Builders object to 'harsh’ treatment

The Government nad| singled out the building in-; dustry for harsh treatment,' said Mr F. A. Cree, president of the Master Builders'' Federation, in Ashburton yesterday. Opening the federation's | national conference Mr Cree' said that in the face of a continuing ba!ance-of-pay-ments deficit, the Government had no option but toj put a brake on public spend-' mg. However, the Government, still "misguidedly regarded: the building sector as a gen-i era! and convenient economic regulator, disregarding what the resultant damage' m.ght be to the industry and ultimately’ to the whole! The industry must call on the Government for urgent policies and action to prevent the big recession that i was looming, said Mr Cree. ; Unemployment, high inter-I est rates and reduced public) spending had hit the industry. and insolvencies! were increasing dramatically, he said. Its problems) had been aggravated by the. rise in basic costs, particu-| larly materials. Mr Cree said the buildingindustry was particularly'

I ["angry and embittered”] • about the fall in house' building. The Minister of .Housing (.Mr Holland) had! 'last year set a target of i 26,000 to 28,000 houses a [year. However, at best "Government policy” would i result in a net gain of 17,000 unit in the vear ending on I March 31. This financial year, on De-] , cember figures, the industry, ,I would be fortunate to) achieve 23,000 completed ‘units, and building permit] •figures for January and Feb-i • ruary indicated a production■ rate of 19,000 houses a year. The net gain of 17,000 • j houses for this year was ar-! rived at by deducting from; • the 23,000 units, a "was-' tage” of 6000 houses be-! cause of demolitk , fires, | and the shift of people from! ’ rural to urban living. ! Mr Cree said the latest: , Housing Commission re-1 ! search indicated that the | real need for new dwelling | units was likely to be more; (than 300,000 in the next 101 years. ’] Allowing for migration ’outflow, and based on com- '] mission figures, 32,000 units I would need to be built each jyear, rising to 37,000 units :|by 1986. Mr Cree asked whether<

.Mr Holland believed his tar-| 'get, and whether the in-] i dustry had been misled. The i latest moves by the GovemIment did nothing to increase 'the number of loans for j housing. While ready access to housing mortgage finance | was vital, it was useless to I most home seekers unless it •was available at a price the : average person could afford. i The industry wanted no .charity from the Governi ment, and asked only that • policies be implemented to I enable it to fulful its centra! : role in the economic and 'social life of the nation. ' Unless the Government changed its present policy the industry would be fortunate if its work load rose :above the present danger I level, which brought gross I under-use of skilled labour, I high wastage, low intakes land poor career prospects, I inadequate use of training i facilities, idle plant, and ! serious unused material pro- ; duction capacity, said Mr I Cree. I More than 200 delegates and wives are in Ashburton for the conference, which is being held in conjunction with the Federated Builders and Contractors' Industrial Association of Employers conference.