HOUSING LOANS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10522, 25 February 1920, Page 7

HOUSING LOANS

STATEMENT BY PREMIER APPLICATIONS FROM LOCAL BODIES. NEED FOR MODERATION URGED. The Prime Minister furnished yesterday the following statement with regard to tho applications received from local 'bodies throughout tho Dominion for loans for housing purposes under the Act passed last session:— Authority applyipg Applied Eiiterfor loan. for. tabled. £ £ Palmerston North ... 10,000 10,000 Woodville 400 400 Manaia 10,000 10,000 Elthani 10,000 10,000 Manawatu 2000 2000 Kiwitea 7300 7500 Hawera 10,000 10,000 Kaponga ' 10,000 10,000 Whangarei 10,000 10,000 Hiitt " 3000 3000 Rangitikei 2500 2500 Waipukurau 10,000 (In abeyance.) Taumarunui 8000 ~ Marton 1600 ~ £95,000 £75,400 In addition to tho above inquiries have been received from the following;— Amount. Local authoritv. required. £ Christchurch 200,000 Auckland Wellington 10,000 Te Awamutu 10,000 New Plymouth 10,000 Morrinsville 10,000 Franklin 10_,000 Egmont 5000 Waipara 3000 Kawhia 1000 Ohura 700 £310,300 Amount applied for £95,000 Total £405,300 In addition to the figures contained in tho above table, Mr Massey pointed out that the State Advances Department is paying out of Advances to Settlers’ a n d Advances to Workers’ Accounts, an amount approximating one million per annum in providing homes for tho people. This amount represented advances for building houses, for buying houses, and for assisting in .the repayment of mortgages on houses. ~ ' , It will be necessary, he added,_ tor local bodies to limit their expenditure on this account to moderate amounts, otherwise difficulty will bo experienced in borrowing large sums. As long as the amounts applied for are moderate, advances can be managed jby the'Government If,, however, largo sums are required, it will bo necessary for the Government to go outside tho Dominion, and tho Home market is practically closed, to ns, except at high rates of interest. It will cost the Government fully 6 per cent, to borrow in London at present, and payments for public works, Native land settlement, railway improvements, war expenses, gratuities to soldiers, and .various other accounts aro being provided for out of loans raised within tho Dominion; hence the necessity for care and economy on tho part of local bodies in taking advantage of the legislation of last session.