BUILDING SUBSIDY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21926, 9 October 1934, Page 10

BUILDING SUBSIDY

FIGURES FOR AUCKLAND WORK WORTH £72,000' WAGES BILL ABOUT £22,000 Grants amounting to just under £7OOO have been authorised in the Auckland metropolitan area for the purposes of the Unemployment Board's new building subsidy scheme for dwellings, and the total valuo of the subsidised work to date is - nearlj £73,000. . Applications began to be received about the third week in July, a few days after the scheme was announced. The Auckland figures yesterday were as follows: Ato] . Toto , cations Value Subsidy Auckland City, . . 88 Suburban districts 29 14,41). 1.315 117 £72,815 £0,936 It is estimated that the wages cost involved is in round figures £22,000, so that the subsidy, although calculated differently from that of last year, works out very similarly in relation to wages. It is possible that tine board's new scheme was responsible in part for the rise in. house building in Auckland City from 12 permits in August to 26 in September, although the total for the same two months last year was 41. It is a requirement that subsidised contracts must be commenced within a reasonable time, and the probability therefore is that further increases will take place in the next month or two. The subsidy is calculated on a basis of Is a square foot of totally enclosed floor space, with a limit of £BO or 8 per cent of the contract price. The Unemployment Board reserves the right to refuse a subsidy if the contract price exceeds £IOOO., Restrictions are placed on the use of imported materials, and if the requirements of the board's schedule are not observed deductions may be made from the subsidy or it may Ibe refused. The board must bo satisfied that the work will not. be undertaken without the subsidy, and strict inquiries are made on that point. The scheme applies not only to the erection of new dwellings, but to additions to existing dwellings. However, it is understood that in Auckland, at any rate, most of the applications aro for new low-priced houses. _ This is confirmed by the figures, which show the average'contract price of subsidised jobs to be £622. Applications are still being received, and no closing date has been announced by the board.