STATE HOUSING PLAN

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19398, 9 August 1937, Page 6

STATE HOUSING PLAN

HIGH-RENT CRITICISM ANSWER BY MR. LEE ("Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, this day. Since the inception of the Government housing scheme last year tenders have been called for the erection of more than 1400 houses, according to a statement made by Mr. J. A. Lee, the tinder Secretary to the Minister of Finance, who is visiting Auckland. "In the majority of cases the tenders have been let or actual building operations are proceeding," he said. "Schemes are also rapidly being developed to serve other districts. Building is either under way or operations are about to start at Lower Hutt, Mimamar and Johnsonville, in Wellington, at Orakei and Otahuhu, in Auckland, and also in Christchurch, Dunedin, Invercargill, Oarnaru, Thames, Whakatane, New Plymouth, Maslerton, Wanganui, Palmerston North and Westport. "Tenders are being called for houses on the Casey estate at Auckland, and lor schemes at Whangarei, Tauranga, Napier, Hastings, Levin, Patea, Hawera, and Timaru, and also for additional schemes at Christchurch and Dunedin. Other towns are also receiving attention, but owing to the difficulty of negotiating satisfactory purchases of land the schemes are slower in starting. "Altogether land for housing has been purchased in 40 different towns." Answering the criticism that the rents are too high for workers, Mr. Lee said: "I should like to know where a toiler can get even a shack at a figure comparable to our rents. The Orakei houses will be 10s or 15s a week cheaper than would be paid for a similar type of house built privately. "Every section of land which we have bought in the main centres represents a substantial saving on land purchased for housing purposes by the previous Government. In many cases this saving amounts to about 40 or 50 per cent." He added that there were occasional complaints in the matter of contracting that the housing scheme was a one-man show. Actually there were at least 30 different contractors at work on the various schemes.