STATE HOUSES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23761, 14 September 1940, Page 15

STATE HOUSES

Sir, —"T.E.M." says the State houses "are more or less stereotyped, both inside and out " This is not correct. The State has gone to such pains to introduce variety in design that nearly every one is different. Some have an almost ideal lay-out, others are merely different. The same correspondent further says: "There is nowhere for the two-year-old to play in the small, neat, continuous gardens opening straight on to the traffic road." This is also incorrect. True, the front is without fences or gates —the only condition which is "stereotyped" —but the Government provides a hedge round the back of the section and trellis work and a gateway to divide the back garden from the' front, and two-vcar-olds cannot wander out of that. As to the general correspondence on the State houses, one would think we were getting the houses rent free to read some of the letters. With the average wage at. say, £5 to £5 10s weekly, surely £1 8s to £1 lis 6d — tho average rents —are high enough, especially as most are so far from town that fares add 3s 6d to 4s 6d per week. The onlv difference T ran see is that the State does not expect to "live on the rents" like a private landlord, but is content to cover its hare costs. State House Tenant.