HOUSING IN AUSTRALIA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 23 October 1941, Page 6

HOUSING IN AUSTRALIA

FOUR ROOMED DWELLINGS FOR £450 I TRUST SHOWS HOW TO DO IT Housing problems have become acute j in Australia since the war began, one of the principal factors being the drift from the country to the city for work m munitions factories, and every State | is turning its attention to new construcJ tion. South Australia is providing object ; lessons to the other States and some of : those who have commended the work jof the South Australian Housing Trust I say that its achievements would be difi ficult to surpass under comparable con- | ditions anywhere in the world, j The facts are that the S.A. Trust has (built nearly 1000 homes at an average | cost for four roomed semi-detached j dwellings of little more than the £450 u’ Finally fixed when the scheme began • lour years ago—and this in spite of (greatly increased costs for labour and materials. Secrets of the trust's success Mie mainly in simplicity (though not (monotony) of design, standardisation of i materials, and, most important of all.the ' benefits of mass production gained i through the practice of using one conl tractor. Low overhead charges, due to j administrative stall being kept to a j minimum, are a valuable contributing • factor. I It is claimed by the trust authorities [that the costs of the South Australian j homes are 30 per cent, less than corresponding buildings under the Victorian housing scheme and that lower rents are charged without any Government rent-money subsidies. The trust has consistently shown a net profit on its operations, the surplus for last financial year having been £2007. In four years the trust has had only one bad debt—14s od—although the amount of money