REPAIRS NEEDED

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 83, 8 April 1938, Page 6

REPAIRS NEEDED

BUILDING UPKEEP

NEGLECT IS WIDESPREAD

CITY TRANSITION

A special division of the housing report presented to the City Council by the City Engineer, Mr. K. E. Luke, last night, has to do with the physical condition of buildings. Mr. Luke remarked par- , ticularly upon the neglect of a number of buildings, mainly in the inner city area, as a result of which tbey have fallen, and are falling into an hininhabitable condition. Moreover, said Mr. Luke, the report ,errs on the side of leniency rather than 'of severity, and it is. certain that a great number of buildings included as "satisfactory" will be definitely "unsatisfactory" within a few years, unless the owners spend the-necessary money on general maintenance repairs. Generally speaking, neglect of the upkeep of property is widespread, and is not confined to tenanted houses or to any particular part of the city or sub.urbs. ' Many owners, either from lack of finance or because their equity in the property is small, have neglected the upkeep so necessary in timber houses. In this respect special reference should be made to the necessity for regular painting and attention.. to essential external plumbing maintenance worki This neglect will mean that many properties will develop much earlier into the "unsatisfactory" classification than would be the case if regular maintenance were carried out, particularly in view of the preponderance of wooden dwellings in this city. ■ r FALSE ECONOMY. "I am of opinion that the .locality influences owners on the question of maintenance and probably is the reason why many residential buildings in areas passing from residential to business areas have been neglected in essential, regular maintenance, and this is speedily bringing many Houses in these areas to a state where they will become uninhabitable," said Mr. Luke. "Changes,from residential areas to business areas are usually slow, and the survey disclosed many neglected properties which would have handsomely repaid money spent on their upkeep, particularly in view of the extreme shortage of dwelling units. Owners " capnot be * expected to rebuild residential buildings in these changing localities, but regular maintenance would have prolonged' the life of a great many of these dwellings. The restriction of certain areas for residential purposes only would undoubtedly tend towards the better upkeep of buildings arid also towards rebuilding for residential purposes." ■ DIFFICULTIES OF TRUSTEES. Later in his report the City Engineer stated that many old timber dwellings on , small sites in certain areas .of the city are in an unsatisfactory state of-repair. The individual sites are too small' for satisfactory development and in many cases the properties are in the' hands of trustees. Many of these estates are practically insolvent and the money necessary to catry out repairs is not available. The engineer's department had experienced great difficulty in enforcing "structural alteration notices" and "cleansing orders" to render-many dwellings fit for human habitation;;' \OIn the ctese of=ij»e large trustee,- who had to a-dministe? many estates that were practically insolvent, notices had been served on seventeen properties within'the last two years and considerable time had often lapsed before tho necessary work had been carried out; J several notices had still not been complied with., While appreciating* the difficulties that handicap * the trustees of many estates, the position from the toublic health and the City Council's viewpoint was most unsatisfactory.and legislation giving local bodies wider powers in these matters was essential.