TRANSIT HOUSING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25937, 1 September 1945, Page 6

TRANSIT HOUSING

USE OF ARMY BUILDINGS PROVISION OF CIVIL CAMPS (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Aug. 31. To meet the pressing demand for houses, and in particular the requirements of those who are in urgent need of accommodation, the Government has decided to facilitate the provision of transit and temporary housing accommodation. ' This announcement was made to-night by Mr W. Nash, Minister in Charge of State Advances, and chairman of the War Assets Realisation Beard. The Minister said it was appreciated that in addition to the normal housing construction programme, State and private, now being carried- out,, it was necessary to take some steps"' to provide temporary housing accommodation,, and arrangements to this effect were being made with various local authorities throughout the Dominion. For this purpose the Government would offer local bodies, free of cost, surplus service camps and certain other buildings’ that had "previously been used for wqr activities..... •;/ Co-operation with Local Bodies In some cases where service camps were situated on ■ Government-owned land, the Minister said, the Government itself would provide transit or temporary housing accommodation. Where local authorities desired ' the- surplus buildings in service camps these would be made available to them free of cost, and in cases where it was necessary or advisable to transfer buildings from the privately-owned land on which they were at present situated to other land under the control of a local authority, the Government wpuld arrange for delivery of the buildings or materials to the 1 new sites. In these cases the local authorities would themselves take the initiative; by advising the Government of their requirements in connection with buildings in the area they controlled and subsequently accepting responsibility for the erection or alteration of the buildings and the allocation of tenancies, the collection of rents, and the provision of maintenance supervision. The Government was anxious that the scheme should be. commenced immediately, Mr Nash said, and local bodies having housing problems and desiring to co-operate with the Government should communicate immediately with the Commissioner of Works in Wellington, when arrangements would be discussed to facilitate the use of buildings in their area or to transfer buildings ■ from one -place in the area of a local authority to another whiph was more convenient. A Measure of Relief,,, Mr Nash said it was unnecessary to stress the housing problem which existed in this. and all other countries, and while much progress had been made in New Zealand, there was still a serious shortage which would remain until more skilled labour and materials were available. Discussions on the nroposals had already proceeded with the local authorities in Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin, and it was hoped, that some alleviation of the existing conditions would be provided in a reasonably short time.