DEMAND FOR HOMES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 21 January 1939, Page 4

DEMAND FOR HOMES

CLAMOUR IN THE SOUTH MINISTER SURVEYS WORK TRADESMEN NEEDED e fUnited Press Aeeociattoal f _ ; WELLINGTON, 20th Janugy.r t j Although the demand for houses was _ ; not as great in the South Island as in the North Island, there was a caimour for homes there, said the Minister of y Housing (the Hon. H. T. Armstrong) s when he returned from a survey of j State housing activities in the south toj day. The need for more skilled labour a was acute and there was also a great ” need for more plant for the kiln-drying of timber. A* Minister of Immigration , he was investigating the possibility of j bringing more tradesmen from over--5 seas, and action had already been taken to go into the whole question of the , resumption of an immigration scheme. ; j “I was very favourably impressed t; with the work in hand in the South . Island, but, like the Northa Island . building programmes, housing is being held back by the lack of skilled labour,” the Minister said. “For certain classes of work, such as brick veneer and concreting, many of the builders have had great success in training young men. Some of these have become quite proficient in a short time. FEWER MEN PER HOUSE “Although the number ,of men engaged has been substantially incraaaed during the last year, we are building more houses and consequently it takes longer to build a cottage. There are actually less men per bouse available. , “It is absolutely essential for ns , to face up to the idea that we mast secure an additional number of skilled workers if we are to make | up the leeway. “Another problem thst will hava to be solved is the securing of a suffi- • cient quantity of seasoned timber for ■ . housing needs. The sawmillers can sell , t’ 'ir timber right off the saw, so they say, ‘Why should we worry?’ That isn’t much good to the builders. Thare . are not enough kilns in New Zealand ? to season the timber required. ” When he was asked if kiln drying , was proving satisfactory where it was . being used, the Minister said that j with up-to-date appliances and proper , supervision, kiln-dried timber was the . best that could be secured for housing. j but if the drying was not done property it was better left alone. The joinery factory at Kaiwarra had proved how successful kiln-drying could be, but t that was only operating in a small , way. What was needed was an exten- ’ sion of the kiln-drying system until the demand for seasoned timber could be met. DEMAND FOR HOMES “The need for houses in the south , is not nearly as pressing as in Wellington or Auckland,” the Minister said* “but there is a clamour for housee in all South Island centres. There is alto a demand for flats, but the Berhampore | block is the only large flat-building j scheme in hand. In Christchurch we < are building small flats for old age | pensioners,. They are all on the ground floor, and have all the conveniences of 1 a full-sized house. Although the block j is only half-finished, we have had a j number of applications from prospec- ! I tivo tenants. We expect to let the flats i for about 14s a week.” At the present time there were about 14,000 applications for houses in New Zealand, the Minister added, and about 11,000 of those were from Wellington and Auckland. In the South Island the demand was not nearly so great, but at Ricacrton a block of land was being cut up and over throe hundred houeoe would be built there. His Department was arranging for roading, sewerage* and water supply for the area, and when the building programme was finished it would be a model suburb* complete with shops. Unfortunately such blocks of land could not bo I secured near Wellington, but there waa !'still a considerable amount of room for building along the railway to John* sonville and in the Hutt Valley. Tht use of electrie haulage in the Hutt Val* ley would have to come sooner or later, and when better transport faiclitiea were available there it Would be as near to Wellington in time as many ut the older suburbs.

Mr Armstrong said IhsX the Trlme Minister's remarks about Immigration summed up the position in New Zealand to-day. The need for more trained men was urgent, and he was already at work on the question. Immigration wo«|d be given full consideration immediately.