BUILDING COSTS.

Waikato Times, Volume 112, Issue 18809, 3 December 1932, Page 22 (Supplement)

BUILDING COSTS.

METHODS IN OLD LAND. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE. WORKING TO TIME-TABLE. Builders in England have been seriously attacking the problem of costs, according to Mr. J. W. Graham, of Christchurch, president of the New Zealand Master Builders’ Federation. Mr. Graham returned to the Dominion by the Maunganui from Sydney, having visited with Mrs. Graham during the last six months Canada, England, France, Italy, and Australia. In England he studied the building situation, and found that although costs were still higher than before the war, steps had been taken which had proved most effective in cutting down the price of construction of any particular kind of building. “ Throughout the cities in the Homeland,” Mr. Graham told the Wellington Dominion, "housing schemes are still being energetically proceeded with. In England and Wales since the war more than £1.000.000.000 has been spent on the 1.500,000 houses constructed. A large proportion of these have been subsidised by the Government and local authorities to the extent of £15,000,000 per annum. But in the present campaign for economy, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has made it clear that he must substantially curtail expenditure, and it is now known that there is not likely to be any further Government assistance for buildings. Reducing Costs. 11 Private enterprise, however, has devised means of reducing costs and meeting the needs of the various classes requiring housing, and already about two-thirds of the total number of houses being erected are unassisted by subsidy. “ There is a general demand for the removal of Acts such as the .Rent Restriction Acts, which are relics of the war and a great hindrance to development and the natural working of economic laws. TheTe is also a strong effort being made to assist In the better housing of the poorer classes, also without reliance upon rates and taxes for finance. “ The contractors in London," said Mr. Graham, "appear to have been very successful in their determination ■to reduce building costs, which are still exceedingly high compared with the pre-war costs. Great economies are now made by the strict observance of a pre-arranged time-table of operations. It is estimated that the time of building has been reduced by from one-sixth to one-third. The system calls for more Initial preparation and a complete organisation of work in advance. No Alteration In Stylo. “ In London designs of commercial buildings are still following the classic treatment that' has been in evidence there for many hundreds of years. Generally speaking the commercial building has remained In the same style throughout that period. It was In the factory construction that one saw the modernistic designs such as are the usual practice on the Continent. Some of the new and colourful factories on the outskirts of London were exceedingly striking. And their arrangement and equipment inside was remarkably modern and efficient."