Housing Scheme Useful Piece Of Legislation

Northern Advocate, 10 May 1940, Page 3

Housing Scheme Useful Piece Of Legislation

[Special to "Northern Advocate.”] AUCKLAND, This Day.

The Minister for Housing (Mr Armstrong) said yesterday that he believed that when the provisions of last year’s Rural Housing Act were better known it would become one of the most useful pieces of legislation the country had. He said that the first applications, totalling about £150,000, made by county councils under the Act, were now. before the Local Government Loans Board, which had been asked to expedite them. Money at 3i Per Cent. The State Advances Corporation was permitted by the Act to lend money at 3 per cent, to the councils, which re-loaned to farmers at rates .up to 3k 'per cent., for the I erection of dwellings or the repair or ‘enlargement of dwellings already existing. A borrower repaid his loan through a special rate, which included interest and instalments of interest. Loans were for terms of 15, 20, or 25 years, according to the borrower’s circumstances and the nature of the work to be done. A loan of £SOO for a new house on the 25-year table required a weekly payment of only about 11/6. Mr Armstrong said it would be hard to imagine more liberal terms than this, especially as the borrower was not required to meet a valuation fee or any other expenses. State Advances. Mr Armstrong said that State advances for house-building had not fallen off in recent years. During the financial year 1939-40, Mr Armstrong added, 2100 new loans, totalling £1,870,000. had been author-' ised.^ Nearly all these were for housing in urban localities or in the country, or for constructive improvements on farms.

For the period since October, 1935, over 16,000 loans, totalling approximately £16,200,000, had been authorised, and £7,200,000 of the amount had been in respect of farms.