HOUSING LOSSES

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 81, 2 October 1929, Page 13

HOUSING LOSSES

THE RAILWAYS SCHEME

EXIT HOUSE FACTORY

The not loss to the Department of Eailways on departmental dwellings was £.08,620 in 1928 and £64,176 in 1029. Eeports the General Manager:—

"It is hardly to bo expected that our housing will be a source of revenue to the Department, but it does seem that the cost to the Department in the way-.of the loss on the housing of tho staff has grown to' a magnitiido that calls for serious consideration. There are also anomalies in connection with the charging of rents, more especially as between, the more recently erected houses and those of tho older typo, and these anomalies give rise to some dissatisfaction among the various members of the staff. I propose to give consideration to this matter during the coming year, with, a view to seeing whether .something cannot bo dono to meet the position without imposing any undue burden on the staff who occupy, departmental dwolliugs. "During tho year fifty houses were c.UL, at, tho JJYnnkton Junction hoiiso-fac-tory, -91 which had been cnt tho previous year were on hand on tho Ist April, 1928, and 90 were under erection (incomplete) on tho Ist April, 1928, making a total,of 237. For the Department 177 houses wero erected durin" tho year, for the Hutt Valley Housing Committee 27, and for the Public Works -Department 10, making a total of 220. The number of houses in course of erection and incomploted at tho 31st March, 1929, was: Departmental 12, non-de-partmental nil; total, 12. Since tho inauguration of tho housing scheme tho total number of houses erected is: Dopnrtmental 1277, non-departmental 314; total, 1591. A number of hot and cold water sorvicos-have been provided, and electric light and -sewerage installed whoro available. ; "The house factory and sawmill adjacent thereto at Frankton Junction, which woro established in 1923 for the primary purpose of enabling houses to bo constructed for the staff, have, with the completion of the housing programme, been closed. As much of the machinery as can bo made economical use of is being transferred to tho workshops, and the realisation account in. respect of the factory and sawmill is being credited with tho value thereof, bonio machinery tKat cannofc be transferred to the workshops will still remain, and will require to be realised upon to the best advantage. Similar considerations apply also to the land and buildings. "It seems inevitable that there will uo a debit to be disposed of when the c accounts of tho factory and sawmill are anally wound up, and this will principally fall on the housing branch. This will make the debit on account of our housing operations as above set out rather greater than appears at pre-