Demand For State Houses Growing, Says Minister

Northern Advocate, 10 May 1940, Page 6

Demand For State Houses Growing, Says Minister

[Special to “Northern Advocate.”] AUCKLAND, This Day. After visiting various State house development schemes in the Auckland district the Minister for Housing (Mr Armstrong), expressed great satisfaction with what had been accomplished. “Auckland is ahead of all other places in the Dominion in respect to State housing,” he said. “It lends itself to the building of homes because of the extent of the land available. “Auckland has in this respect many advantages over Wellington and some other places. “What astounds me is that there is no scarcity of good sites even centrally situated. “It is remarkable also that, instead of the demand for homes diminishing as we turn out more houses, applications increase. “This experience is not peculiar to Auckland. “In Auckland there are people living under conditions that are intolerable. and the same applies to Wellington and other places. “The trouble is that we cannot build fast enough. We are utilising the services of every builder and skilled artisan we can enlist from every part of the Dominion. “That is all it is humanly possible to do.” Tousands of Slum Houses “Throughout New Zealand there are thousands of slum houses that I consider unfit for human habitation. “We cannot prevent people from living under such conditions if we have not got other places for them to occupy. “All the time I have been in Auckland there has been a constant stream of people to see me and some of their stories of hardship have been heartrending. “The conditions under which some of these people have been forced to live are depressing to the extreme. “I am deeply concerned for many old couples who are forced to exist under shocking conditions. Then again there are the newly-married couples who in so many instances have put up with a bedroom, sharing the conveniences of the house with others. Trouble When Baby Arrives

“They can put up with this sort of living for a time, but the trouble starts when the baby arrives. “The position becomes intolerable and, what is more, they discover that the landlord or landlady loathes babies. “You see then, that there are two stages an the life of the working people when they require a small house to themselves —the newlymarried couple and the old couple when their families have flown away like young birds when they find their wings. “We ui'gently need a far greater number of small houses to meet these classes of tenant, and we intend to do more in the way of building this type of dwelling in the future.” Rent Collection. Referring to the collection of rents, the Minister said his task would be more congenial if he had to deal with the building of houses alone, but being Minister in charge of State Advances, he had also to deal with houseletting and the collection of rents. “That is where I meet with unpleasantness,” he said. “This is because there are so many applicants who have had their names on the waiting list for long periods. “Some think that there has been unfairness and discrimination in

our allocations, but this is not so. “I feel sure that officers of the State Advances Corporation are trying by every means in their power to deal expeditiously with the most necessitous cases first. “It is a difficult job to cope with, and we are all human and liable to ’make mistakes. “Naturally, each person thinks his own case the most urgent, and that is understandable. “We are doing our honest best.”