HOUSING POLICY

Grey River Argus, 20 October 1936, Page 5

HOUSING POLICY

GOOD PROGRESS With Government Undertaking (Per Press Association). WELLINGTON, October 19. A survey of the progress made by the Housing Department sineei its inception was given by the Under-Sec-retary to the Minister of Finance, Mr J. A. Lee, ALP., to-day. He said that the Government already possessed substantial areas of land in Welp.-ng-ton an ( ] in Auckland, and mi area, or two had been acquired in Christchurch. Investigations were, proceeding in regard to Dunedin. Air Lee continued: — 400 WELLINGTON HOUSES SHORTLY. In Wellington, nearly 400 sections will be available for immediate use, and the Minister of Housing proposed to cadi tenders for the erection of houses -on those sections shortly. '‘About a month ago. Air A. Tyndall was appointed Director of Housing Construction, and the services oi Air R. B. Hammond, who has been associated with Lown planning in New Zealand, have also been obtained. All G. F Wilson, of Auckland, has been appointed principal architect to the, Department. REPORTS ON AREAS. The first step to be taken in connection with the Ministry’s housing scheme is the procuring of land in districts where schemes are proposed. All areas of land which are subin tted to the Ministry of Housing will be reported on bv the Lands Department and the Valuation Department as a preliminary to a Housing Department investigation, or a- recomrnenda- , tion for purchase. Land, once it is acquired for housing purposes, is transferred to the Ministry of Housing, which, first of al'., must furnish the land with the necessary public, iitili-1 lies, such as water supply, drainage, fighting. eitc. Tn the cities where land has been acquired, a good deal has already been serviced wlh the necessary public utilities, and a great benefit will result to local bodies by the sharing of. -the rating charges when such land is on. VARIETY IN HOUSES. Detailed plans of the houses to be erected arc now being prepared. An important feature of the Government's policy is that the Ministry o Housing, while securing the benefit of mass production, shall contrive to give each house an individual appeiG •tnce A condition of this sort, necessarily, demands a great deal of prior preparation., for this mdivulua -ity 0 appearance must go hand in ian< with p'anning that is designed to keep the costs to a minimum. For instance while the outside of qach house will be distinctive in appearance, the actual ground plan, involving the arrangement of the rooms, will not be var'ed to the same extent. Air Lite said that in a group of ol'O houses there may he ten houses wit the same ground plan, although these house. Will not Im situated near one another. As tine plans and specifications arc completed, accurate quantity schedules are being prepared. The prepare!ion of these quant'tv schedules mu t take an a.ppneciablc time, but it is P bv,olls ' lv the most sensible course for the Department to take. If tenders were called without accurate schedules >t quantities being supp'd every contractor interested in fender ng _ wou'd have to set about taking out Ins own quantifies. From the economic point of view, this would be a wasteful reduplication, which would evenly have to be charged to the co,st of the houses. Accurate schedules of quantities are also required by the Department so that negotiations can lie opened up in advance of construction with the firms which manufacture buihl’iig materials in New Zea and. This procedure will give the fi”n s time to prepare for the add't.onal ontp™ likelv Io result from -the Government’s building policy, and will enable the Ministry yif Housing to secure 'equitable price adjustments. tenders. To give all builders and contractors in the country a reasonable opportunstv of tendering, we propose, wh'eni calling for tenders tor large contracts in the main to give builders and contractors 'the opportunity of tendering for groups of houses numbering twenty, multiples of 20. or the whole contract. While tin Government is convinced that a rem housing shortage exists throughout the country—indeed the shortage was recognised' by the last Governmentit is still deemed necessary io have an accurate housing survey made so as to locate the areas of the greatest urgency. A Housing Survey Act .was I-assed in 1935, but regula Bions under that Act have newer been issued, and the period of operation oi. the Housing Survey Act terminates on December 31, 1936. Provision be made for extending the period durinrr which this Act will opiate. The administration of the Act is at present vested in the Minister of Internal Affairs, but the Government propose! to transfer the administration of the Housing Survey Act to the Ministry of Housing. The amendments necessary to give effect to these intentions'w'll be placed before Parliament before the end of thei present session. As so,on as the necessary amendments arc passed, regu aj.ioii'will be issued and +l'o Alrnistry of Housing hopes to have lhei Co ?P C ’ a l tion of the local authorities oi Hi Donv'nwii in having housing surveys carried out. With these surveys completed an effort will 1 Lave to be made to undertake scheme* in the order m which the survey Ims determined their urgency.