BUILDING INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 124, 19 February 1938, Page 7

BUILDING INDUSTRY

Expansion During Recent Years * ADDITIONAL EMPLOYMENT PROVIDED Figures showing the progress of the building industry in recent years were issued yesterday by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary in charge of Housing. Mr. J. A. Lee. He referred to the expansion that had taken place and the additional employment the industry had provided; '■ Mr. Lee said that the value of all building i>ermits in 21 larger towns during the last seven years ended December 31 was as follows: 1931, £2,544,000; 1932, £2.004,000; 1933, £2,604.000; 1934, £3,532,000; 1935, £4,558,000; 1936, £5,528,000; 1937, £7,325.000. A very / steep upward increase had occurred in the last four or five months, and it appeared as if building was now occurring at the record rate of £10,000,000, a year. Permits issued in the twenty-one larger towns for the same years were:—l93l, 1174; 1932, 1011; 1933, 1692; 1934, 2006; 1935, 3038; 1936, 3396; 1937, 4144. During the months of October, November and December last the monthly totals for dwelling permits had attained t>he highest figures reached in the last ten years, with 492 for October, 463 for and 323 for December.

The 1 value of all buildings completed in the years ended March 31 was as follows: —1931, £7,216,627; 1932, £3,073,418; 1933, £2,227,488; 1934, £2,553,719; 1935, £4,715,456; 1936, £6,229,959; 1937, £8,133,847. The higher building permits for the current year would be reflected in higher values for completed buildings next year. A very steep upward increase was now occurring in the number of peo- ; pie employed in the building industry, said' Mr. Lee, and the number of employees had increased until at March, 1937, with 9721 building employees, the total was higher than in 1931: —1931, 7734; 1932, 3651; 1933, 2213; 1934, 4202; 1935, 6852; 1936, 8346; 1937, 9721.

: Mr. Lee said that considering the tremendous reduction in the ranks of the skilled workers, due"to advancing years and to the almost complete cessation of apprenticeship training during the depression years, it could be seen to what a considerable extent the recovery was taking place. To engage in a larger building programme, it was necessary all the time to train a larger number of skilled craftsmen. This could not be achieved in a few minutes. However, at the present moment building trade apprenticeships were showing a tremendous upward movement. Between April 1 and November 15, 1937, in the building trades group alone, an additional 691 apprenticeships had been registered and special contracts of apprenticeship had been entered into for 104 apprentices, an increase of 795 in the building group. At the same time, the total figures for all apprenticeships, which were 3329 in 1935, had increased to 5231 by March 31, 1937, and between April and December 1847 additional apprenticeships were registered, and 404 special .contracts and 171 : ordinary contracts were awaiting registration. Actually, since April last, 2422 fresh apprenticeships have been registered or have been listed for registration—a most striking advancement.

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