BUILDING HOMES

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 71, 21 September 1936, Page 10

BUILDING HOMES

INCREASING COSTS

ABOVE BOOM YEARS ?

HELP FROM SUBSIDY

The effect of comparatively recent policy changes affecting building is reflected in the building permits issued in Wellington during July and August, a Wellington builder told a "Post" reporter today. During the years of depression the building industry had almost gone out of existence, but the subsidies supplied by the Unemployment Board had set it going again. Since such subsidies had been restricted there had been a definite slackening in building, and the recent announcements regarding Government houses had made other prospective home builders hesitate about building. All builders realised that the subsidy had assisted building materially, he said, and they also realised that it ;had been used by persons who could have built without it. However, it seemed clear that the subsidy had provided a necessary stimulus both to fbuilding and to those who were contemplating investing their savings in a home. When the subsidy was limited ■to homes costing £700 or less it had become practically useless. In Wellington only a small house could be built for. £700, and the average home required by the ordinary worker could not be built within £100 of that amount. COST OF A HOME. The building question had only to be considered on a basis of 1000 sq. ft. floor space—a very small five-roomed house—for anyone to realise how impossible it would be to secure the subsidy and still have a home large enough for the average family. The cost of building varied according to the class of house built and the section used, but a fair average of cost per square foot could be found by any builder. Before the depression the average in Wellington was 15s 6d, or £775 for 1000 square feet. When the building subsidy was first granted the average, was about 12s 6d, or £625. The subsidy could be subtracted from that, so it was obvious that those who built then secured their homes at a much lower figure than those who built before the slump. Prices of all commodities had* advanced as conditions improved until the cost of building reached approximately 15s per square foot, or £750. The recent alterations in labour laws and prospective increases in timber prices would bring the cost to 17s, or £850 for the house. Increasing timber prices could not be blamed for the whole increase, ne said, but "they were getting beyond the level of boom years. Matai.-of which about 3000 feet were required for a fiveroomed house, had risen from 32s 6d to 51s 6d per 100 feet, and there was suggestion that the price would soon reach 595. Ordinary builders' rimu, of which 10,000 feet were required, had risen from 18s 6d to 20s 6d and the next price mentioned was 24s 6d. If those prices were adopted a considerable difference would be made to the cost of constructing a wooden house. DECREASED PERMIT VALUE. In July, 1935, he said, permits to the value of £94,526 had been issued in Wellington, and that had fallen to £65,565 in July of this year. The difference between August, 1935, and August, 1936, was even greater, the figures being £105,763 and £57,542. He attributed that fall to the Increase in prices and the restricted use of the building subsidy, and considered that it would lead to an increase in the construction of small cottages at the seaside or in the country. Many persons who were working only five days a week would probably consider it more economical to live outside the city and travel to and from work. Although building prices had increased and the building of homes had been checked, tradesmen were still employed, the builder said, "but many builders who had been engaged in the trade for many years were but of employment or had to take journeymen's wages. That was better than the conditions ruling during the slump years when there was no work at all, but it :did not seem fair that men who had ■built up businesses and accumulated plant by their own effort and initiatives should have to go back to the start again. The increases in prices dEd not affect the builders only and if they were increased beyond a reasonalile level they would rebound upon thfc>se who were seeking still higher prkes for timber. At the present time houses of concrete on a woven metal base were about £30 cheaper to build than wooden houses, and if timber increased to the prices mentioned the diffqrence would be still greater. The difference was such at the present time that> concrete walls were becoming popular and the timber merchants were losing business.