Minister Prefers Houses To Flats

Northern Advocate, 16 July 1948, Page 4

Minister Prefers Houses To Flats

WELLINGTON. Fri. (P.A.) The Government’s present policy is to provide housing accommodation to meet the needs of all sections of the community. said the Minister of Works (Mr Semple).

He was commenting on a recommendation of the Lower Hutt City Council that the Government should erect a number of big blocks of fiats in state housing areas to cater for small families.

The Minister said the Department of Housing Construction was building stale houses to cater for both large and small families in the following proportions; one-bedroom units, 5 per cent; two-bedroom units, 20 per cent; twobedroom units plus sleeping-porch, 15 per cent; three-bedroom units, 52 per cent; four-bedroom units and over, 3 per cent. It was generally recognised, said Mr Semple, that big blocks of fiats were not the best places in which to bring up children.

SHORTAGES MORE ACUTE

A number of blocks of fiats had, however, been built by the department to cater for the housing needs of childless couples and elderly people. The present shortage of steel and cement made it impossible for the department to proced with several proposals for flats which it had in mind.

Even if fiats were started, uncertainty of supplies of steel and cement coming to hand would make the construction period longer than would be the case in the usual state house, where other materials used in construction were not in short supply. In other words, houses giving the same and more accommodation than would be provided by a block of fiats could be erected in a much shorter time.

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