STATE HOUSES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26550, 27 August 1947, Page 6

STATE HOUSES

ATTITUDE OF DEPARTMENT COMMENT IN POSSESSION CLAIM Comment on the fact that the defendant, In a case Involving a claim for possession of the tenement in which he was living, had not been able "to secure a State house from the Rehabilitation Department because he already had somewhere to live, was made by Mr J. D. Willis, S.M., in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The magistrate suggested that the department might entertain the application of the defendant for a house as it was remarkable that a returned soldier should be debarred from getting a State house in such circumstances. The case was one in which Albert Anthony West sought to recover from Arthur Davie possession of a tenement at 13 Burnett street, Caversham. Mr G. T. Baylee appeared for West and Mr A. H. Smithers, of the Labour Department, for Davie. Mr Baylee submitted that the contest was one of relative hardship. Giving evidence, the plaintiff said that he had bought the house when the defendant was in possession. Witness was at present living with his wife in two , rooms. The defendant said that he had been a tenant of the property for the past 18 years, and was at present living there with his wife and two daughters. He had not had any success in his efforts to get another house. In 1944 witness had applied to the Rehabilitation Department for a State house, but he was told that other applications were more deserving, as he had somewhere to live. Witness was willing to accept a flat if it was large enough to accommodate his wife and family. After he had given his opinion on the circumstances of the case, the magistrate, granted an adjournment for one month. The court’s i views could, he said, be conveyed to the Rehabilitation Department in the meantime.