PRIVATE BUILDING

Evening Post, Volume C, Issue 38, 13 August 1920, Page 7

PRIVATE BUILDING

NEEP FOR ENCOURAGEMENT

SOME HOUSING QUESTIONS.

The operation of, the present i'«iit restriction law was discussed in' a disjoint- ' ®t, way in the House, of Representatives yesterday at question time. Sir.. W E. Parry' (Auckland Central) asked the Prime Minister if he had noticed a :-eEort of some cases of hardship quoted y an officer of the Labour Department in the Court in Auckland. The officer, '.. Mr. Lightfoot, had^said that he knew of two. cases of hardship. In'one. a'man and, his wife and family.of five .children' had been evidted from a house at Onehunga, and were now-living, in one room. In the other a family'of man and, wife and four children" were obliged tr live in a shed., JVJr. Parry asked if Prime . Minister Would have a census taken of the available accommodation in the Dominion so as to provide for. cases such as these. „■■-. ■- ".- •■• ■ '■,-■ Tire Prime Minister said that private persons should be' .encouraged. to; go jn, for house-building. What the Government could do would only, go a little. I way. There cduld be no doubt" that what the House had done had gone some way; to. discourage private building. ■ • :•-.-■ . 'Mr. P.Fraser : ;"Iri what way*?" : Tb,.e Prime Minister'said, .that ...New: ' Zealand was now experiencing what happened, in Sydney. Because of the^legis- i iation that had been passed there was no ' speculative, building going .011. He doubted if there was one speculative builder in Wellington now. .-- - . ' JVIr. Fraser : "How does the legislation affect them?",. :' .■ . -.' ><.-. The Prime Minister replied that it frightened the%so that they-would not put their money into .home-building. . Mr. Fraeer : "But it does not apply to them." ' '.■.. ■' ' ■'■.■"'".... ■■■ The Prime Minister : mem- / bey ' knows .Jjetter . than .. that. ■'. He ■' thought that that, was one. respect in which they would have., to' go .'back" on the,. , law. He was going.on-.with', the amending Bill now. before 'the House;- and would ask the House to pass it: in-its entirety. " *" ..' ;': ■">.. \.. Mr. Parry said that the Prime Minister had not answered the latter part of . the question as. to whether^'he- would : have a census taken,.of available rooms- "~" in houses, so' that people with- large families would not have to live.hi sheds.. The Prime Minister said he could not answer such a question without making inquiries. ' NO . "FLOODING", WITH HOUSF.S. , Dr. A. K. Newman (Wellington 'Ea£t) referred to the same .subject.. Heisaid that he knew of people who were-j wiling, to invest'a. little money-they had. in the building of houses,.but'they_: fejrad that the Government was, going., to--: flood the place with 'houses. /It would/," of. course, not -be possible for the Government to do :> that. If the Government. could give some assurance that : the" rent position would be the rame for two or three ."years, those people would help by building. The Prime Minister said that no. injustice would be done.io the>onan'whq_built, r The law did nbt/apply, to. new nouses,' -:- but only to houses that had been erected for some years. He. hoped that the assurance would help to induce privcte persons to build and so help in easing the house shortage.- • •"■;' ./" ' GOVERNMENT OFFICES. 1 v '>?Mr. Fraser wished to know if it wao the.'irjtention of^ .the Government to '■ continue to buy and rent dwellinghouses for use'as offices. That policy ■:' had been carried to a great extent in .Wellington. The Board of Trade had removed into a dwelling lately, he did not know wh|f. '■■"■■.- The Hon. E. P.- Lee: "They." ,were turned out." '■-■ . Mr. Fraser : "Well, I they had to be housed somewhere." He suggested that some of the Defence offices should be used) instead of. more houses' being; taken. ■-..-. The Prime Minister said that there, was-no intention, so far as he knew, of the. Government buying dwelling-houses / for offices. He knew \of, only two. cases within the past .three years in which houses had been bought for this. pur- '"'" PROFITEERING. Mr, Fraser had yet another question to ask. He wished to' know if Uie Go-: vernment would take steps to prevent the gross profiteering in houses which was taking place. He quoted one casa in which a, highly-placed Government servant had made a profit of £1750 on. a house within a few months. A member: "Was that Wellington?." " Ml. Fraser : "No, Christ-church/ N The Prime Minister asked that tli«| question be placed on the Order Paper. MINISTER FOR HOUSING. Mr. G. Mitchell.asked the Prime Mm- • ister if it would be possible to appoint a Minister for Housing, so that ..there* might be concentration on this matter. The Prime Minister said that; the Government had now the full complement Ministers allowed by law. Mr. Mitchell : "Alter the law " Mr. Massey : "That is .a matter for Parliament." He did not think this housing problem was suffering from th» absence of an "appointment, such as suggested. The o&cers at present in charge of this w,ork, Messrs.- Graham and Temple, had done ,very well indeed. It was not a matter of administration;,the difficulty was shortage' of labour and material, and until 'both were ■ more plentiful there "would be little improvement. . _ .