COSTLY BUILDING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23155, 29 September 1938, Page 18

COSTLY BUILDING

STATE HOUSING PLAN £1529 FOR ONE DWELLING HUTT CANDIDATE'S FIGURES [by telegraph—own correspondent] AYEIjLIXGTOX. Wednesday The statements of the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, and the Under-Secretary in charge of Housing, Mr. J. A. Lee, as to tho cost of sections for State houses and-the houses themselves respectively were challenged by Mr. J. W. Andrews, National Party candidate for tho Hutt electorate, when he.-opened his campaign at Lower Hutt last night. Tho first cost of the bare houses was nearer £I2OO than it was to tbe £7OO mentioned by the Minister of Labour in 1936, and to that figure must be added the huge cost of plans, supervision, departmental costs, motorgarages, tool sheds, paths and fences, nnd tho cost of tho land, said Mr. Andrews. Mr. Nash had stated that, with one |or two exceptions, all tbe sections cost j under £2OO each, said Mr. Andrews, ! who produced a Lands Department I plan showing 48 of those sections. The lowest price shown as "upset price" lor any one of them was £250, and the highest £350, he said. He knew ol buyers who had offered tho department over £3OO for sections in that lot, and it had beon declined. If tho Housing Department had taken over that lot at £2OO or less then a heavy writing-off must, occur.

l- .Mr, Leo lias said that not n single house cost £1)100." continued Mr. Andrews. "1 challenge that statement and give you the actual figures for u house in one block of the first Minimalcontracts. '"The net price paid to the contractor for that one single-unit house was £1371, plus the proportion of extras oil the contract (foil on 19 houses), or £'27 each, making a total of £1398. Front this £l3l lis a house (lump sums) had already been deducted, covering paths, levelling, fencing and so on. "These items were attended to by the Placement Officer and no doubt paid for out of Employment Promotion funds, so that the cost of that bouse was £1398, plus £l3l lis, equalling £10'29 lis. A subsequent contract was let for the garage or tool tdicd, and another ono for tho letter-box and milkbox." The price of the land, cost of supervision, department costs and architects' i'ees had all to be added to that, and still nothing bad been allowed for the permit fees, which the department would not. pay, Mr. Andrews stated.