CHEAPER HOUSES GOVERNMENT SCHEME

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 12, 15 January 1937, Page 10

CHEAPER HOUSES

GOVERNMENT SCHEME

MR. SAVAGE'S COMMENTS

THE COST OF SITES

The contention that the Government's housing scheme had resulted in cheaper homes for the people was made by the Prime Minister (the Rt. Hon. M: J. Savage) in a statement to a "Post" representative today. He quoted instances in which the Ministry of Housing had been successful in obtaining sites for houses at a cheaper price than had hitherto obtained. _ I Mr. Savage said that, if the new Min-

listry of Housing had shown one thing more than another, it was an ability to effect substantial saving? in the cost of land that was being acquired for housing purposes. A moments thought would show why that was so. In days when the housing .policy of the Government was confined to advancing money to individual homebuilders to buy land, the selling agency had to load to the cost of each section the cost of carrying somewhere between twenty and fifty clients to each section before a sale was made. This resulted in a tremendous inflation or costs. SOME EXAMPLES. As indicative of the savings that were being achieved by the Ministry of Housing, Mr. Savage quoted a few

examples of past purchases and present purchases. He said that the portions of the Orakei Estate at Auckland which were being made available foi housing were valued in the books at close to £300 per section. This land, which was choice for homing, would of course, have to be used, and there were no means of recouping past ex penditure, but it was interesting to note that other lands were being acquired in Auckland for housing purposes,- in very fine residential localities, that would work out, drained and serviced in every way, at about 50 o?o. cent, of the cost of the Orakei Settlement. Ample land appeared ■to be available at these reasonable figures. The parts of the Hutt housing area which, had. been purchased .by past Governments again appea^ f ;.°" the departmental books as ng very close to £300 per section. Adja r p n t to Wellington many si,tes had been acquired which again-showed a savrng

of almost 50 per cent. In Christchurch, suitable sections of land had been acquired which, with all the services, would work out at sometimes as low as £106 per section. This : land has been purchased alon * areas in which the sections had been : sold for well in excess of £200 each. In Dunedin. it seemed that ample ! land would be available at a very rea- ■ ibnable figure—certainly not in excess ! of £100 per section, and in many instances at a substantially lower figure. . Indeed, in all these towns so many - areas had been offered at so low a s rate that the Departments interest- ■ ed were in a position to negotiate - rather than in a position to accept any E terms. *

SECONDARY CENTRES. Investigations were being made in practically all the secondary centres of New Zealand with a view to securing land for housing purposes, and again, 'said Mr. Savage, it would be only true to say that the offers of suitable land were in excess of the needs, and the price at which the various sections of, land were being offered was so reasonable that the Department could ignore the person who was trying to drive a harsh bargain. . . . If land could be acquired in the larger cities for anything between £100 and £150 a section cheaper than had been paid in the years between. 1922 and 1929, it could be seen that, the Ministry of Housing had that margin with which to offset the effects of .the 40hour week. But it would be found later on, Mr. Savage said, that the capacity of the Department to.negqtiate purchases of land at a low price was only equalled by its capacity to enter into, reasonable agreements for the supply of other basic materials, about which a statement would be made at a later date.