80 PER CENT. RISE

Grey River Argus, 16 February 1946, Page 4

80 PER CENT. RISE

CHARGE FOR LODGINGS Wellington Complaint P.A. WELLINGTON, Feb. 15 Indignation was expressed to-day by boarders at a boarding nouse in Wellington at the fact that a notice was posted up yesterday that the tariff would bb increased from an average of thirty-five shillings per week for bed and breakfast to three guineas per week for the same service. “The position that we have found ourselves in,”' said one boarder, “draws attention, once again to the charges being made for accommodation in Wellington, and to the diificulties which the young people whose homes are not here have to face. The notice in this case, was to the effect that, as from yesterday, the tariff had been increased to ten shillings per day, or to three guineas a week, for bed and breakfast. Another paragraph of the notice said that, henceforth, facilities for cooking would, not be available to the’residents. In the past it has always been possible to boil the kettle, ana a number of girl lodgers cook their own tea on the premises.”

The boarder added that this increase in the tariff synchronised with a change in the management. He understood that everyone in the house was leaving.

Some of the boarders have raised the question as to' whether any redress can be obtained in Wellington. It is reported that they have been assured that the matter could be inquired into under the Price Emergency,Stabilisation Regulations, on the receipt of a formal written complaint. Under those regulation’s, written approval has to be given by the Price Tribunal before a tariff for board and lodgings could be increased.