HOUSING IN SYDNEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3808, 8 March 1927, Page 13

HOUSING IN SYDNEY.

'(From Our -Own Correspondent-) SYDNEY, February 17. Sydney’s harbour gives the city what might be termed a Queen Anne front. But in some of its congested quarters skirting the city, it has a Mary Ann back, which obviously few of the visitors •to Sydney see or hear about. The exposure of the conditions in Paddington, for example, within coo-ee of the city proper, has caused something of a stir. In that suburb and in an area of 430 acres, there are 5300 houses which accommodate 27,000 people. For residentrial purposes in Paddington it has been disclosed by one of the health inspectors that 2241 balconies and verandahs are enclosed or partly enclosed. The Government just now is flirting -with a big housing scheme, but even if it becomes operative in the early future, which is hardly likely in view of its commitments for family endowment and other schemes, it is difficult to see how it can overcome the acute state of the housing shortage in Paddington, for there is little room there on which to build houses on any extensive scale. It is not improbable also that many of the balcony tenants would not be happy under other conditions, especially if they had to pay more. The fact that Crown lands, which might- otherwise be ballotted" for by people seeking home sites, are sometimes sold by public auction, and bought up by speculators, who. can buy as much land 'as they like, and hold it without effecting any improvement, has evoked a protest among councils in areas where the housing problem is acute, and where there is little or no prospect of meeting it effectively. Not only in Paddington, but in other crowded suburbs of Sydney, it is common for families to have their homes on balconies improvised as rooms.