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Home owners can obtain the protection of this Act if they are financially solvent at the time of making the settlement. Tax Concessions All important building materials are free from sales tax, and imported materials are either free of duty or subject to only a very low tariff. To help farmers provide homes for farm workers and to offset higher building costs in most country areas, income-tax concessions will be made. An initial depreciation allowance of 30 per cent, will be granted on the cost of new cottages or other accommodation for farm workers. Better Use of Existing Houses Through its amendment to the Tenancy Act the Government is encouraging property owners to let vacant accommodation to relieve the housing shortage. In new tenancies undertaken after Ist March, 1950, landlords and tenants may establish their own conditions subject to the approval of a Rents Officer. This gives property owners a chance to let accommodation for definite periods with the certainty that they can regain possession when the time expires. In the first six months of operation, 662 agreements were made under the new law, and this released 550 dwellings, 80 flats, and 32 rooms for letting for the first time. The amendment to the Tenancy Act will also encourage employers to build houses for their employees. Employers who let houses to employees can now regain possession of their houses when employees move to other jobs. The Government received assurances from representative groups of employers that if the restrictions of the Tenancy Act were relaxed they would provide accommodation for employees. Dairy companies and local bodies, in addition to private employers, have already begun to build houses in an increasing scale as an attraction to employees. ASSISTANCE TO GROUPS WITH SPECIAL HOUSING NEEDS Some sections of the community have special problems which handicap them in providing homes for themselves. These sections include pensioners and people with lower incomes and farmers in remote areas who need homes either for themselves or for farm workers. The special needs of the Maori people have also to be considered, as do the needs of returned servicemen ; of State employees, including school-teachers and members of the armed forces; and of local bodies who wish to engage in slum clearance. State Rental Houses for Lower-income Groups Although the Government's policy is to encourage private ownership of homes and to express this encouragement in loan finance to individuals and local authorities, the Government recognizes also that there are many families who, for a variety of good reasons, cannot build or buy their own homes. So long as there is need for rental houses, the Government will continue to build State houses. This intention is reflected in a building programme which will complete this year a record total of 5,260 housing units at an expenditure of £12,450,000. In the previous year 4,405 housing units were built at a cost of £11,380,000. The supplementary estimates provide for expenditure of a further £250,000 on more contracts to be let, but not completed, this year. The future building rate of State houses will be governed by the number of urgent applications recorded with the State Advances Corporation, the Rehabilitation Department, and the Department of Maori Affairs. The number of houses of each kind to be built will be assessed from analysis of the requirements of applicants, and will cover the whole range of needs from those of large families to those of pensioners. Houses are

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