THE HOUSING PROBLEM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17635, 27 May 1919, Page 5

THE HOUSING PROBLEM

DISCUSSION IN AUCKLAND. CAUiSE OF SCARCITY. (Feom Otjb Own Corbespondent.) AUCKLAND, May 26. Ihe scarcity of houses and the high cost ?t™. ldm ? continues to occupy considerable attention m Auckland. Owinjj to the jrreat increase in the cost of material and labour very httlo building is now going on - It is no exaggeration to say that'thousands of pounds' worth of prospective work representing all classes o f buildings, is hung up in Auckland architeots' offices to-day owing to the increased cost of building' , stated a member of the Builders' Association in an interview. "In quite a number ot cases, again, the builders have not been able to get enough work to'keep going and have had to give up and take on farming or some other occupation. Despite the eftorts of tho architects to avoid all unnecessary expenditure and of the contractors to keep down the estimates to a safety margin, it has been a common thing for me tormor to find when tenders axe opened that the cost is altogether beyond the price of the owner." One architect states that, as a result of tne increased cost of materials, a house costing perhaps £500 18 months ago could not now be erected in the plainest design for less than £850, or even more. An instance was given of a. five-roomed bungalow which cost the owner £1000, and which before tho war could probably have been elected for little over half the money. Even theX plainest type of house of four or five rooms would now cost about £700. ■ Ihe increased cost of building is held to be primarily due to the increased cost of materials, although one or two ' authorities who were interviewed held firmly to the opinion that since the war labour difficulties had increased tho cost of building even more than the high price oi-materials Dealing with the cost of materials, one of important items cited was timber. I consider that the price of timber has increased out of all proportion to the cost of procuring; it and converting it into sawn timber," said a builder. "I know the cost ot Jabpur and machinery have contributed largely to the higher price, but there does not seem to me to be sufficient justification for the difference between the prices obtaining seven or eight years ago and now. tfirst-class kauri used to cost 18s per 100 ft tat to-day it costs a nominal minimum of I S _li' » vlth an of 2s for specified lengths. ' With reference to the importation of iim ber from, the North Pacific coast, it was TS? ,x- * , lnc feased freights and shipping difficulties had now brought the price of this timber up to that of first-class kauri A great increase has also taken place in the price of bricks, roofing iron, and paint quite apart from the direct result of war conditions. The great difference in construction and ■design, of the modern house was held bv one authority to be largely responsible forthe prices now ruling. "People to-day simply will not tolerate, a plain oldfashioned style," he ' "They insist on a better class of house altogether— better appearance and better finish,—and I think it is a very good thing that they do Another _ important point is an aversion to anything m the nature of standardisation lo build on a large scale, as in any housing system, it is absolutely necessary if the houses are to return any profit, that they follow some standardised plan and principle, and that is exac% what people object to.- They no more wish to have a house like their neighbour's than they want to follow his taste in clothes or anything else. Ihe prevailing sameness in designis one of tho mam reasons why houses could bo built so cheaply in past years. As an instance of this, the building of a terrace of houses not far from Queen street was cited. In 1876. a local builder erected five tour-roomed houses, with verandahs in front a ? $?™ hes $ e •! 3 ? ck ' for the eross sum of £510 To build any one of those cottages to-day, even on tho same plan SVi£ whole 7 llor^ r ° Ximato the ° rigW