STATE HOUSES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 14 August 1941, Page 4

STATE HOUSES

NEW, RENTED PROPERTIES .SURPLUS SHOWN FOR LAST YEAR (From Our Parliamentary Reporter# Wellington. This Day. A surplus of £9165. compared with a loss of £2570 for 1939-40. on new. rented properties built under the Stale housing scheme, is shown in the annual report of the State Advances Corpora tion for the year ended 31st March, 1941, which was presented in the House of Representatives yesterday. Tpe report says that the better result was due mainly to the fact that the average rate o f interest paid on borrowed funds was less than in the previous year. The report of the Director of Housing Construction reveals that the total net payments for the purchase of land, provision of services, erection of joinery factories, erection of houses and all administrative charges, had amounted to £16.252,809. The expenditure for the last year was £5,005,608. The department claimed that its ndministra- | tion charges were still remarkably low, j being 2.58 per cent, of the net expen* j dlture since the commencement of opThe management and supervision of existing securities and the control of State rental houses had constituted a large proportion of the corporation# activities during the past year, the report said. At 31st March the corporation was responsible for 43.071 urban securities, totalling £25,512.141; 20.748 rural securities amounting to £24.. 168.711; and 11.046 old and new State rental properties. New loans granted for the year amounted to 1510 of a • total value of £1.431.033. Of these 1101 valued at £9BB 289 were on urban securities. Since 1935, when the corporation began lending. 17,450 loans of £17.583.964 had been granted. TRADE AND INDUSTRY Discussing trade and industry m New Zealand, the corporation reported that financial assistance would be provided by the Government to the dairy ! industry in appropriate cases. “From nr- investigation of the trading accounts of our farmer current account | clients, for the past season, we anticipate that the average farmer will have been able to meet his commitments for the period in full without difficulty,” i the report said. j It was reported that for the past I year the supply of 979 huts as temporI ary accommodation for farmers and farm workers had been approved. A total of 3464 applications had been lodged with the Soldiers’ Financial Assistance Board, up to 31st March, 1941, the report added. With the necessary funds drawn from the War Expenses Account, the ! total commitments to 31st March were £40.014. Rent was the main item, reaching £24.090. The only other considerable items were £7683 for interest ! on mortgages and £7193 for insurance premiums. The net surplus payable to the Treasury from the operations of the corporation is shown at £207.233 | which, with the reserve of £160.000 set aside to meet income taxes and other factors, represent a return of 4.96 per cent, on the authorised capital an* 4 1 contingent liability.