Over £9,500,000 Lent For Rehabilitation

Northern Advocate, 24 August 1945, Page 9

Over £9,500,000 Lent For Rehabilitation

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, This Day With an increase of about £150,000 over the previous month’s figures July was by far the busiest month for loan authorisations so far made to ex-ser-vice men and women, states the monthly review of the Rehabilitation Deparment issued yesterday. Altogether loans totalling £914.329 were authorised during July, ' as against the previous month's record total of £769,280. This brought the grand total of loan authorisations at the end of

July to £9,541,197. Of this £9,043,770 has been for men returned from overseas service and £6819 to returned service women. To the same date demobilised home service personnel have benefited by loans to the extent of £378.997; merchant seamen, £40,922, and widows and dependants of deceased servicemen £70,689. The number of ex-service men and women assisted by way of rehabilitation loans during July was 1149, bringing the total to 14,765, of whom, apart from merchant seamen, 13,440 had seen service overseas.

A further 89 ex-servicemen were assisted during July to purchase farms to a total value of £341,662. This brought the number financed on farms up to July 31 to 1044. at a cost of £3.537,509. Of those 1014 were returned servicemen. Houses Come First

By far the greatest increase during the month was shown in the number of authorisations for either the building or buying of houses, the figure for July being 392, to a value of £457,072. The corresponding figure for June—the previous month record—was 321 valued at £368.395. Of the loans authorised during July. 168 (£230,933) were for the erection of houses and 224 (£226.139) were for the purchase of existing dwellings. The total number of housing loans authorised up to the end of July was 4091, the amount involved being £4,514,271. Included in this total were 2104 interest-free supplementary loans valued at £332.746. The purchase of these supplementary loans is to bridge the gap between normal lending values and presentday costs. Another 111 ex-servicemen were assisted during the month to set up in business by being granted rehabilitation loans which amounted to £66,919 and brought the total value of such loans so far authorised to £794,997. During July 524 ex-service men and women had their authorities granted to use the £IOO interest-free- furniture loan, involving for the month a total ox £47,408. The number of furniture loans so far authorised was thus brought to 7305 (£666,556). Interestfree loans authorised during July to enable ex-servicernen to purchase tools of trade amounted to 28, valued at £877, bringing the total to 529. representing £16,104.