MOST ACUTE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20606, 21 December 1936, Page 13

MOST ACUTE

HOUSING SCHEME MISAPPREHENSION ABOUT SURVEY By Teiegrapn—Press Association WELLINGTON, December 20. Referring- to the housing survey, the Prime Minister (Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) said to-day that a good deal of misapprehension seemed to exist about the matter. To a point he agreed with the Wellington City Council when it declared that the need for housing was so obvious that a housing survey was scarcely necessary. The Government had been well aware of the shortage of housing but a clamour had gone up from the press of New Zealand and from many local bodies emphasising the necessity of securing a survey as a preliminary to construction. While the Government had not retarded the preparation of its schemes in any way, it had been considered desirable to give local bodies machinery and the power to undertake a survey at the earliest possible moment It never had been intended that a complete area of every city should be surveyed, and the Ministry of Housing would readily agree to substantial exemption. The housing shortage throughout New Zealand was not only apparent but had become acute in almost every town, but a housing survey taken in areas where notoriously bad housing conditions existed would ascertain the number of houses it was necessary to replace in addition to the new construction required. There were certain areas in all targe towns that should be surveyed, but anyone could readily see that there was no advantage to be gained by counting the number of rooms in houses where excess accommodation was not available. The real purpose of the details required in the housing survey was to ascertain whether there was overcrowding due to a shortage of housing or overcrowding due to other factors. In the past, Governments had done little more than provide for new construction, but it was the purpose of the present Government not only to provide for new construction but to plan remedial measures in regard to deteriorated areas. A survey of these areas would produce invaluable material, and if the survey were limited to these areas the cost to the local authority would not be excessive. That did not mean that there was any necessity to wait for a survey to engage in a programme of construction on the part of any local body. A steady stream of preliminary inquiries was coming in from local bodies from all over New Zealand, and it seemed likely that very early in the new year a large number of small schemes would be undertaken. Two local bodies, one at Green Island and one at Alexandra, had already carried resolutions under the Housing Act, and others were preparing to carry resolutions. Many inquiries were coming in from dairy factories regarding the offer of 3 per cent, money for the housing of employees, and one loan had already been granted.