WORKERS' LOANS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 139, 16 June 1930, Page 8

WORKERS' LOANS

LUXURY OR LOW VALUATION?

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —There have beeu numerous complaints lately that the State .Advances Department has cut the. percentage of loan money granted and that applicants have beeu unable to go on with their houses. The position is that the cutting down is more apparent than real. The trouble js in the nature of the security offered. When the present method o£ allowing people to .select their own sections and get their own plans prepared was adopted., it must be evident to anyone that in a Department such as the State Advances, doing business all over JSTcw Zealand, and with valuation officers all over the country, a definite standard of construction or minimum requirements was act up and a basis of values decided on. That the standard is a high one is testified to by land agents' advertisements. "Built under Government supervision" has become the hall-mark of ah honest job. That the values set up are ample is guaranteed by the number of builders riding in motor-cars. Now I doubt if there are many builders who have built or are building more houses under "the workers' loans scheme" than the writer, so I should know what I am writing about, and never in my experience has less than 95 per cent, been offered on a reasonable proposition. I am often surprised at the liberality of the Department. Going back over my books and plans for some years past, I find that the plan is takenl off at 16s per square foot, and if you buikl it of gold bricks you will not, get any more. This price is ample to build a, home that any working man should be proud to call his own. The real trouble is that applicants now are not satisfied with a fair tiling; they -want too many gold bricks. Glassed-in 9nn porches, cupboards with drawers and tip-up bins, mirror wardrobes, fancy dresslights, heart finishings, etc.; all these are above ' the requirements Jaid down, and again my experience is that nothing,will be granted on them. Valuers may not admit the correctness of this statement, but that is the way it has worked out with me. A fair price for joinery for a iiye-rooined cottage is £95. That would give a five-light oriel window,, three-light projection, and two lights in the other rooms, and leaded fanlights throughout, • outside doors . and frames, inside doors and jambs, and all to the standard requirements. However, the plans now are more elaborate, and it is rare to get a quote for joinery for less than £130. On one job it reached £213. On a plan, submitted to me a few weeks ago for a price for a workers' loan there was an oriel window, two threelight projections), two pairs of swing doors glazed with bevelled plate, two mirror wardrobes, and the hall panelled in threeply mahogany. Some go one better and include.a sum for providing'blinds. The loan is for building houses, not for furnishing them, and the modest application, is viewed most generously. It is common knowledge that the Department is being put to great trouble by delinquent tenants who have obtained an advance, which, while not above the value, is beyond the amount they can pay rent on. Now every applicant is quetsioned as to his position, and no matter what the security the Department views it from the angle of applicant's rent-paying ability. It may be said, "What does it matter to the State Advances Department? It can sell the tenant out." True, but the aim and .object of the whole scheme is to put people into homes of their own, not to put them out. A stumbling block is the exorbitant price of building sections. A man undertakes to pay £300, but the valuer says £200 is all it is -worth. This means that the applicant must fined £110, plus 5 per cent, of the cost of the building. If the Government paid these high prices, it would mean that sections would jump another £100, just as they did ■when the universal 3d fare started. Another complaint is of the delay in making payments. Well, at times I have had to wait months for my money, but never, in any instance was it the fault of the Department. It was always that for some reason .the owner's lawyer was unable to give the certificate required by the Department. There are other complaints I would like to deal with, but this letter is already over-long. In conclusion, I would like to point out that any man who gets a Workers' Loan is having a great and lasting benefit bestowed on him, and iv preparing his plans should cut out the gold bricks, and he will find his home will arrive all right. Just a last word, but not too loud, the builders -price may have been too high.—l am, etc., BUILDER. .