ORAKEI HOUSES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22896, 26 November 1937, Page 15

ORAKEI HOUSES

FJIiST GROUP FINISHED 59 DWELLINGS READY CONSTRUCTION OF PATHS STRUCTURAL WORK PROCEEDS Compactly designed, distinctive in appearance, neatly finished and handsomely decoratpd, the first group of 59 dwellings in the Government's housing scheme at Orakei is completed and ready for occupation. The actual structural work on most of the finished houses was concluded some weeks ago, but it is only recently that the power fittings have been installed, and a number still require tlio minor services of the electrician. A total of 209 dwellings, built according to a wide diversity of designs, have cither been completed or are under construction. Along Coates Avenue the line of attractive houses bears a finished appearance, and a start has been made this week in the laying down of footpaths to serve each- home. Between Coates Avenue and Reihana Street, where the greatest progress lias been made, landscape gardeners have been nt work for some weeks, and lawns and gardens of the future arc envisaged in the considerable amount of levelling and forming that has taken place. More Foundations Laid On the lower slopes toward tlm sea, houses continue/to spring up with the rapidity of mushrooms. Foundations are being laid for a dozen or more additional dwellings, while toward Faritai Drive a score of timber skeletons are gradually taking shape. Although a great deal of work is being performed by decorators and joiners in other sections of the settlement, the bulk of carpentering labour is centred in this area. Applications for tenancy of the first '212 houses erected at Orakei closed ■ early in November and, following the investigations of the Auckland office of the State Advances Corporation, they were forwarded to the Housing Department in Wellington. The exact number of applications for this particular section is not known, but it was stated yesterday that over 2000 had been received up to the present for all the housing schemes in the Auckland metropolitan area. No indication has been given as to when a choice of the applicants will be made. Concern of Correspondent The uncertainty of the date when the houses will be available for rent- . ing was pointed out in a letter to the Herald by a Herrte Bay correspondent, "Worried.'" He stales: "A recent statement to the effect that a number of houses were finished induced me to inspect the Orakei settlement, but I was surprised to see that no paths had been started. Hundreds of expectant tenants would be interested to know the reasons for the delay, and also whether the contractors arc doing their best to assist families which are at present hard pushed by their landlords."