THE HOUSING PROBLEM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13285, 18 September 1906, Page 6

THE HOUSING PROBLEM.

HIGH RENTS AND OVERCROWDING.

GOVKRNMENT ARCHITECT'S

VIEWS.

The chief Government architect, Mr. John Campbell, who is visiting Auckland, was seen by a representative of the Herald yesterday, with reference to the Government's attempt to solve the housing problem in the four chief cities by building suitable houses and letting them at a rent within the means of the average working man. " I was very pleased,"' he said, " to see, so far as the Lawry settlement at Ellerslie is concerned, the New Zealand Herald has taken a saner view of the facts than has been clone by the Wellington papers with regard to the Petone dwellings. These have been described as a white elephant," but, believe me, they are nothing of the kind. It was published in a Wellington paper that there were 50 applicants for one house, and that, although not true, no doubt deterred a good many people from applying for them. Again, the houses are not yet finished, and really very few workers in -Wellington or Petone itself know what they are like. I have not the slightest hesitation in saying that so far as the Petone houses are concerned they will all be taken as soon as they are ready for occupation. I have no doubt whatever about the success of the scheme, not only at -Petone, but in Auckland and Christchurch and Dunedin. The dwellings in the two South Island centres are not yet begun, however. Another cause of the hesitancy of the workmen to take up the Petone houses may be that they have not vet sufficiently acquainted themselves with the conditions. The rents are absurdly low compared with anything of a similar character that can be obtained in either Petone or Wellington. For c house similar to those put up by the Government in Petone a man would have to pay from 14s 6d to 16s a week in Petone itself, and from 15s to 20s a week in Wellington." " But the houses are situated at some distance from Wellington, are they not?" "Yes, they are. rather far out. They are at the end of Petone Borough, and from I 5 to 1| miles from the station. The railway fare for a workman's ticket is 2s a week, and the 'bus fare between the houses and the station would amount to 3s a week. So, you see, 5s a week spent in travelling is, certainly, rather heavy. But Petone itself is a manufacturing centre, and is growing. Land is increasing in value there, and those who go in for obtaining the freehold of their house and land will undoubtedly make a good investment." " The Government's intention in erecting the houses was, perhaps, to relieve the workingman of the burden of the rents he has to pay in some of the cities, and which are practically impossible?" Well, partly that; but also to enable a man to shake himself free of insanitary and depressing surroundings, and also to relieve overcrowding. There is a. good deal of overcrowding in Auckland; but more in Wellington. The people cannot pay the rents asked,'so' they \take a house at, say, £1 a week, or less, and share it with someone else, and half that sum is really about as much as they can afford to pay." It was suggested to Mr. Campbell that the ordinary five and six-roomed houses in Auckland are ill adapted for letting off to two families as is done. " 'JLuat is the,fact," replied Mr. Campbell. They are not suitable for letting oil". A five or six-roomed house as is ordinarily put up provides no room to share for more than the members of one family, and yet 14s, lbs, 16s, and in Wellington even 18s and £1 a week is more than the people can pay." Referring to the Ellerslie houses, Mr. Campbell said: "I was pleased to read the recent article in the Herald on the Lawry settlement. All that was said was very fair and unexceptionable, and you may be interested to learn that if the settlement is successful, as I am certain it will be, the Government will build more houses on the Panmure side of the line. The Government has asked Messrs. Gumming amd Mori an, whose plans were accepted to modify them somewhat in regard to cost, and the allotments that have been- left vacant at Otahuu will probably be occupied by houses designed by the architects referred to, in addition to the five houses already almost comp'.ied. Messrs. Goldsbro' and Wade, whose plans we ret also accepted for Ellerslie, will also be asked to modify the cost of their houses, and the sections left vacant at present will probably be built upon." " What were your impressions of the houses 011 the Lawry settlement, Mr. Campbell " Well, I went out to-day and made .1 thorough inspection, amd I must say I was very much impressed with the high character of the work. 1 am surprised ,at the price—very much lower than anything similar that we could get done ill Wellington. il like the houses at Ellerslie very much ; those at Otahuhu I have not seen yet." "Have you anything to say in regard to the modern style of architecture which has been adopted in some, cases?" . "Do you mean those that have some (esthetic features about them? Well. I think a. great deal too much attention has been paid in New Zealand in the past to utterly useless, costly, and often expensive ornamentation of the standard sawmill type. No doubt this kind of thing appeals to some people, or it would not be so prevalent as it is. but there is a tendency 011 the part of several of the architects whose plans have been accepted by the Government to break away from this kind of thing, and to put the money into strong construction. There is 110 reason why a workman's cottage in New Zealand should not be as conspicuous for good taste in construction as are so many similar dwellings in Great Britain to-day. Good progress in this direction has been made at Ellerslie in the employment of native woods in -their natural state ,except for varnishing or oiling in certain cases. It is most inartistic, to say nothing of the unnecessary expense, to cover up such beautifully marked woods as riinu and kauri with paint, where such is not actually necessary as a preservative." Referring to the tenure of the cottages. Mr. Campbell said he was to confer with the Commissioner for Crown Lands (Mr. J. Mackenzie) to-day on that matter, but he believed that the rents would vary from 9s 6d to lis a- week, including water rates. The houses being Government property would not be subject to other rates, hut of the conditions he could not speak with authority. A slight addition to the rent could he paid, so that the tenant could in 30 years become the freeholder: otherwise the occupiers would be weekly tenants, as if a private landlord owned the property.