REHABILITATION LOANS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26113, 28 March 1946, Page 8

REHABILITATION LOANS

INCREASE LAST MONTH DEMAND FOR HOUSING FINANCE (P.A.) WELLINGTON, Mar. 27. After dropping to below the £1,000,000 mark in January, the Rehabilitation Loan authorisations during February climbed again to reacn £1,194,420 for the month, says the monthly statistical statement from the Rehabilitation Board. This brought the total loan authorisations at the end of February to £16,846,409, of which £16,168,634 has been for loans to men returned from overseas, £11,243 for returned women of the. services. £515.517 for discharged home service personnel, £56,982 for men of thw merchant navy, and £94,033 for dependents of deceased servicemen. Again, loans to establish servicemen on farms numbered more than 100, there being 105 of these, valued at £401,760, bringing the total of such loans to 1710, worth £6,167,536, of which 1671 (£6.060.696) were for men with service overseas.

The housing loans barometer continued to rise sharply during February, there being 520 of these for the erection or purchase of houses valued at respectively £249.642 (176 loans) and £353.269 (344 loans). For January the figures for the same types of loans were 368. valued at £197,740 and £232,664 respectively. The total authorisations ' for housing loans were thus brought to £8,164,534, representing 7266 loans, of which 2415 (involving the sum of £3,325,868) were for new buildings, and 4351 (involving £4,838,666) were for the purchase of existing dwellings. This total included 4033 supplementary loans, valued at £614.324. made to meet the difference between pre-war costs and present-day prices. Loans to establish servicemen in businesses also showed a decided increase, both in number and value. These numbered 181, to value of £124,953. during February, as compared with 103, valued at £61,152, in the preceding month. This made the total number authorised 2769, worth £1,407,809. The remainder of the February total comprised 670 free-of-interest furniture loans (£62,066), also 44 free-of-interest loans to purchase trade tools (£1452) and nine miscellaneous and minor loans 'and advances (£1278). The total authorisations under these headings are now:—Furniture loans, 11.576 (£1,058,936); tools of trade, 799 (£25,617); miscellaneous. 134 (£21.977). Altogether the board had, until the end of February, authorised £23,094,770 for rehabilitation purposes, including loans for all forms of training, the purchase and development of land, and various types of grants of other advances.