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HOUSING AND BUILDING 34. Loans under the Maori Housing Act may be authorized up to £2,000, and the provisions for granting suspensory loans in cases where construction commenced after Ist December, 1949, has also been made available. 35. These factors will impart considerable stimulus to provide home-building and should enable the Department to provide larger houses without the sacrifice to design and finish. 36. The suspensory loan will amount in each case to 10 per cent, of the completed cost of the house, provided it does not exceed £2,000, and will, subject to continued occupation by the mortgagor, be written off after seven years. 37. The Department has increased its rate of new house-building by 26 per cent, over last year's total, whilst houses in the course of construction show an increase over the previous year of 13 per cent. Details are shown in Table 3. 38. In the areas where the supervisory staff has been strengthened the percentage increase has been most encouraging. For instance, in the Ikaroa District a total of 55 new houses were built, as against 24 for the previous year. 39. During the year the departmental building organization supervised the renovation of the historic " Rangiatea " Church at Otaki. This work involved extensive repairs and the Government contributed £1,250 towards the cost, which was estimated at £2,250. 40. The year's activities may be summarized as follows (the figures in parentheses indicate the position for the corresponding classes during the previous year) : Works completed — (a) New houses— Maori Housing Act .. .. .. .. .. 252 Special Housing Fund .. .. .. 25 Rehabilitation .. .. .. .. .. 60 Land development .. .. .. .. 48 385 (310) Maori Land Boards and Maori Trustee .. .. 13 (5) Totals .. .. .. .. .. 398 (315) (b) Other building work (renovations and erection of farm buildings)— Maori Housing Act .. .. .. .. .. 43 Special Housing Fund .. .. .. 25 Rehabilitation .. .. .. .. .. 6 Land development .. .. .. .. .. 105 179 (147) Maori Land Boards and Maori Trustee .. .. 37 (13) Totals .. .. .. .. ..216 (160) (c) On behalf of the Education Department —- Te Kaha Maori School: Erection class-room block, erection teacher's residence. Ruatoki Maori School: Erection class-room block, erection teacher's residence, moving teacher's residence. Tikitiki Maori School: Erection dental clinic, addition to cottage, erection prefabricated class-room. Tokomaru Bay Maori School: Erection prefabricated class-room, installation of drainage. Waiorongomai Maori School: Erection additional class-room. Ruatoria Maori School: Erection milk-room. Te Araroa Maori School: Erection prefabricated class-room.

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