HOUSING PROBLEMS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXIV, Issue 936, 5 December 1933, Page 11

HOUSING PROBLEMS.

Relief Association to Act as Intermediary. AID FOR UNEMPLOYED. The Metropolitan Relief Association, through the Central Depot, is to enter the housing business, being satisfied by' the experience of its legal and advisoryofficers that this course is necessary. By acting as an intermediary between landlord and tenant in cases of distress, the association believes it can satisfy both parties. ensuring the landlord his rent and finding the tenant a house at a reasonable figure. The honorary’ director (Mr T H. Cape-Williainson) and his assistants discussed the question yesterday- when they said there was an increasing difficulty in finding suitable houses at a reasonable rental for relief workers. Lack of food was not the only’ trial of the relief worker’s life. Many of them had housing troubles, in which it was, hoped the association could give some assistance. The demand for cheap; houses was so strong that houses with! practically’ no conveniences—no bath,; hot water or electric light—were letting at perhaps 12s fid a week. These were houses that in good times had scarcely any rentable value at all. The demand, for this tvpe of house was also resulting in an increase in rentals A 10s house was now fetching 12s. fid, a 12s fid house los, and so on Not Bad Tenants. Certain land agents had referred to relief workers f*s bad tenants, but that had not been the experience of the association, which had all sorts of cases under its observation. The association insisted upon the production of the rent book before giving any assistance Not unless the applicant was honestly attempting to meet his obligations in regard to rent would the association grant any assistance by way of rations. Another aspect of the housing question in which the association hoped to be of service was in countering excessive use of the Distress and Replevin Act which was frequently invoked to evict families, entailing unnecessary hardship which benefited neither landlord nor tenant. The legal officer of the association mentioned several cases where the Act had been harshly and unnecessarily' invoked and bailiffs had bullied and bluffed the woman of the household in the absence of the husband. “There is no doubt that some landlords are taking advantage of the poverty of relief workers,” declared Mr Cape-YVTTliamson. “This is a form of victimisation we want to stop, and at the same time, we want to secure those decent landlords who have treated tenants in genuine difficulties with consideration.”