THE HOUSING PROBLEM

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 31, 5 August 1925, Page 7

THE HOUSING PROBLEM

TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —In your issue of the 20th' ulti " Autos " writes a very interesting article in favour of town-planned housing schemes and the group house. Five years ago, shortly after the Government had commenced, operations with tho single story house at Miramar, I recommended that the problem should be tackled on modern town-planning lilies, and group the houses similar to the post-war schemes in England. There is no better way of solving the problem for workers' homes. In England the land for these Bchemes costs about £200 per acre, and the density or number of houses per acre is recommended at 8 for rural and 10 to Vi for suburban. Yet here in Wellington suitable land near enough to the cil.v will cost about £600 per acre, and wt> are forced to subdivide so that the sections are an £-acre in area, with frontages of not less than 40ft, which means when town-planned with 66ft roads and sufficient open spaces and play areas, a net density of about four to five houses to the acre; therefore to town-plan a scheme our lot or section cosls about six times more than, the English lot. Furthermore, we cannot build a modern five-roomed group house of two stories, because the frontages required are only from 18 to 25ft.—I am, etc., ARCHITECT. 4th August.