Part 2: Housing and Land Development

Te Ao Hou, May 1957, Page 47

Part 2: Housing and Land Development In a series of three articles, Mr T. T. Ropiha, Secretary of the Department of Maori Affairs, is giving his views on the position of the modern Maori. Last time, he wrote of the historic causes of the present situation; this time he sketches briefly the part played by his department in coping with the problems. The last installment will deal with future planning. A new house is built at Wairahi Station in the Far North: the workers are Umuroa, Rima and Heumate Wiki, from Te Kao. (NPS PHOTOGRAPH) Traditionally the old-time Maori had little conception of individual ownership of land and houses which were regarded as belonging to the family (in its broad sense) or the community rather than the individual. Fully communal buildings such as meeting houses were symbols of the standing of the community, so work and skill were lavished upon them without stint and they were built for long life. Dwelling places however, were of simple types designed only as shelter from the elements and not with a view to permanency. In those less complicated days, therefore, the building of a dwelling house was a simple matter of rallying kinsmen and friends, gathering materials from the nearby forests, and after a few days working moving into the finished house. From this simple, easily erected shelter to the

type of home introduced by the European, serving as a living place for the family group and provided with electric stove, sewerage, title deed, rate payments, mortgages and all the advantages and disadvantages of the modern home, was a revolutionary change. That change which the European made over a period of many centuries, the Maori has had to make in less than a hundred years. Until the 1920's the Maori generally was able, from the use of his lands or his land revenues, to find the money for the erection of an adequate dwelling to the relatively simple and inexpensive standards ruling for European housing at that period. But as the numbers of Maori owners in Maori lands increase, their shares of the proceeds become less; and at the same time the general housing standards of the community become more elaborate and more costly. The Maori thus There, in a nut shell, lie the reasons for the special facilities offered for housing by the Department of Maori Affairs. In about 1937 the Department embarked on the business of home finance and building for Maoris. It began in a small way and during the first year it built 13 houses and purchased 4. Output has fluctuated as a result of the war and other circumstances, but we reached a peak with 527 houses built and 11 purchased. Since the scheme has begun, the Department has built, through private contractors or its own building organisations, 5,218 houses, caried out 1,224 house renovations and financed the purchase of 432 houses or about 40 per cent of the houses occupied at present by the Maoris. Put in other terms, make a city a little smaller than Timaru. Operations on this scale entail a great deal of expenditure. Our total expenditure in this direction has been slightly under £5,000,000 as at 31–3–35, but our operations pay their way. In connection with this sum, the Department has been repaid £1,700,000 in repayment of principal in addition to the interest charges amounting to £500,000 leaving £3,000,000 to be repaid on houses built during the last 3 or 4 years. So far no loss has been incurred in respect of the expenditure of this large sum. There were only two cases where the Department had to step in and exercise its rights as mortgagee. In both cases the mortgagors had substantial interests in the security, and the Department received the full amounts owing to it. Our lending basis in practically 98 per cent of the cases is about 90 per cent of the value of the land and building offered as security. In any case the Department does not lend more than £2,000 which is the loan limit irrespective of the value of the security offered. Most of the houses cost somewhere about £2,250. In addition we give a great deal of service not given by other financial agencies—we help to straighten out difficulties of site ownership; we help the Maori to get a site if he does not own one; we act as his legal adviser; and where necessary we act as his agent for the building of the house and organise the actual work of building. However, we make charges for most of these services, and our rates of interest and our general rules of administration are comparable with those applying to Europeans who borrow for housing. What I have said about our lending and building activities and terms, applies to the general run of Maoris. There are two groups who are, in different ways, exceptions to the general rule.