PROVISION OF HOMES

Southland Times, Issue 25747, 10 August 1945, Page 4

PROVISION OF HOMES

Aid For Workers In Invercargill

HOUSE PASSES BILL (Special) WELLINGTON, August 9. Housing was not a State problem alone and the State’s objective was to bridge the gap between what private enterprise could and could not do, said the Minister of Works, Mr Semple, during consideration of the Invercargill City Housing Bill and Balclutha Housing Bill in the House of Representatives today. The' Minister added that, consequently, when local bodies undertook schemes to help in the building of homes, they were deserving of every congratulation. Both bills were similar in their provisions to help working people with a small amount of capital to build their own homes. Moving the second reading of the Invercargill City Housing Bill, Mr W. M. C. Denham (Lab., Invercargill) said that at present the building societies would finance two-thirds of the cost, the applicant finding one-third, but every working man could not find onethird of, say, £l5OO, so the Invercargill City Council, in conjunction with the financial institutions, would assist to I the extent of nine-tenths of the money I required. The maximum period of the loan would be 30 years, and the council could borrow for this purpose up to £25,000. The bill also gave the council power to lease land for housing purposes. Mr J. A. Roy (Nat., Clutha) who was in charge of the Balclutha Housing Bill, said the measure was designed on similar lines to the Wellington City Housing Bill 1938, which he understood had proved very successful. The Balclutha district offered excellent opportunities, and anyone with a private section and enough capital to meet onetenth of the cost of a home would be enabled, with the assistance of the lending societies and the borough council, to go ahead with building. The council had taken very progressive steps in making sections available cheaply to returned servicemen, who could then use the facilities under the bill.

VISION AND INITIATIVE “We can do nothing but congratulate any local body in this country which shows such vision and initiative in endeavouring to house its own people,” i said Mr Semple. He added that the | State could help them, but it was the I function of boroughs or cities or counties to do work of this type. It had been suggested that the Government was not encouraging individuals to build their homes, but that was a long way from the truth. The State did not want to be the sole landlord and w’ould help people to build their own homes. (Opposition applause.) Mr W. S. Goosman (Nat., Waikato) said he wished to join-in congratulating both local bodies on undertaking these projects, but he was surprised to hear the Minister’s remarks on what private enterprise could not do and that the Government wanted to assist people to build their own homes. The Government got its money for housing from the Reserve Bank at 1 per cent, and then charged people 4| per cent. This led him to suggest that the Minister was not sincere when he said the Government wished to help the people. The Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Parry, added his congratulations to the local bodies in their efforts to relieve the housing situation at what was undoubtedly a difficult time. He contended that the present housing shortage was a legacy from private enterprise, which had failed to measure up to the task. In support of this, he pointed out that during the period 1923-35 there had been built under private enterprise 42,733 houses, or a yearly average of 4273 houses. Between 1936 and 1944, 51,534 houses had been built, or a yearly average of 5726. These figures showed the need for giving every encouragement to any local bodies which were prepared to assist. They also showed that private enterprise had failed to meet the actual needs.

Mr W. Sullivan (Nat., Bay of Plenty) said that if the State was able to use funds at less than 2 per cent, then it [should take steps to make it available at the same rate of interest to local bodies and to those wishing to build privately, and private enterp/ise had been bled by high taxation. At this stage the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, rose to a point of order and suggested that the discussion must be kept within the confines of the local bill. It was not fair that matters should be raised that might be allied to the bill, but were strictly outside the scope of a local bill. The Speaker, Mr Schramm, said that members should confine their remarks to the bill. TIMBER PRICES

Mr Sullivan said houses could not be built without timber. There had been an increase in the prices to millers of 19 per cent, since 1939 and all of that other than 3d per 100 had been paid out for labour, until they had reached a stage today when many mills were carrying on almost at a loss. He congratulated Invercargill and Balclutha on the steps they had taken. Mr A. E. Armstrong (Nat., Napier) said Invercargill and Balclutha were to be commended for taking advantage of the cheap money made available by the Government to build workers’ homes. This could be availed of by every county council in the country. The building of homes in Invercargill and Balclutha would also provide work for contractors in those districts. Mr H. J. D. Acland (Nat., Temuka) said that there was obviously some misapprehension on the part of some. The member for Napier had been referring to a rural housing scheme introduced eight year? ago, whereas the Invercargill and Balclutha measures were to enable advances to be made above first mortgage. Many county councils had taken advantage of the Rural Housing Act. The two bills were put through the committee stage, read a third time and passed.