TIME FOR REPAIRS

Grey River Argus, 20 September 1945, Page 5

TIME FOR REPAIRS

n-zThousing

Improvement Bill

P.A. WELLINGTON, September 19. In the House of Representatives tonight there was a debate on the second reading of the Housing Improvement Bill. Opposition speakers said that they supported the principle of the Bill. However they stressed the fact that they' considered that the Bill did not deal with the most urgent aspects of the’housing shortage. Mrs Ross (Nat., Hamilton), said she would support any measure to improve housing, but it was first essential to have houses to put people into while their present accommodation was being demolished or repaired. Mr A. S. Richards (Govt., Roskill) said that one sometimes blushed to see the extent to which slums had developed in New Zealand in a brief centurv of settlement. The present Bill would go a long way towards abolishing those slums. An indication of the extent to which housing was going on at the present time was that 'permits for private houses were being issued at the rate of nine hundred monthly, or ten thousand eight hundred yearlv. When all the building tradesmen returned home from military service, it would be the responsibility of those in authority to endeavour, not by compulsion or coercion, but by an appeal to the individual’s moral sense, to induce these expert tradesmen to re-enter their trades to contribute to overtaking the leeway in housing. To the figures for private building must be added 3500 State houses under construction at the present time. The total number of units built by the Housing Department to July 31 last was 18,614, which accommodated 37,288 adults and 43,650 children. That was a population four times that of Hamilton. The Department had completed 898 flats and multi-units, housing 1796 adults and 1070 children. When all of the tradesmen returned from overseas, the housing problem would soon have its back broken. Mr C. H. Chapman (Govt., Wellington North) said he received dozens of complaints from persons in his electorate occupying single rooms and paying high rents for which morning trays were responsible. Complaints had been made to him of insanitary, and unhealthy conditions generally. Unscrupulous people charged exhorbitant rents of as much as thirty shillings or two pounds for a room perhaps eight feet by ten feet. Fie hoped the Government would tackle this problem and deal effectively with those who had charged such prices, and made a racket, of the business . .Mr S. B. Corbett (Nat., Egmonti said the Bill dealt chiefly with demolitions and repairs. Those' were undertakings requiring a high proportion of skilled labour, and if they were prosecuted at present there would be a risk that present bottlenecks in building might be . accentuated by drawing off for repairs skilled tradesmen urgently needed for the completion of new homes. It was possible that behind the Bill there might be plans to get over what might be an unemployment problem in the near future, but he was confident, that thy building of new homes would absorb all building workers likely to be available in the Dominion. MrT-I. E. Combs (Govt., Wellington Suburbs) said the main problem today was to build homes, but it was wise, at the same time, to repair the houses which were repairable. 1 his could in a short time remove hundreds, if not thousands, from the lists of urgent applications > for State houses. Local authorities should look on this question of renaming houses in the same way as they looked on the problem of providing transit housing, which was an emergency measure for emergency conditions, it we could make hous?s better bv repairs, it. would ease the situation for the whole community. The job was essentially a community one. and not mere.lv one for the Government. This Bill enabled local bodies to help the central authority, thereby improving the living conditions of c'tizens. One of the worst aspects of had housin' 1 ' was that children were being reared in sub-standard homes. The sooner we got away from the idea that children could be neglected to the extent that, so Jong as they had a roof over their heads they were all right, the better. He hoped the wide powers envisaged in the Bill would go on the Statute BOOk. ' The debate was interrupted at 10.30.