The Question Box

Cue (NZERS), Issue 31, 15 September 1945, Page 20

The Question Box

This will be a regular feature of Cue. Printed below are questions that have actually been asked, some of them many times, by returning soldiers during interviews with members of ERS Rehabilitation Section, and the answers they have received. Perhaps your problem is answered here.

Q. —What assistance can I get to help me furnish a home?

A.l. An interest-free loan of up to LIOO if this is necessary.

2. In the case of floor-coverings, which are hard for the ordinary civilian to get, you can get an authority through the Rehabilitation Dept, to purchase up to 30 square yards of Feltex, a carpet substitute. This would be enough for two rooms 12 feet x 9 feet with six yards of 36 inches width for hall or passageway. Feltex is available in a range of plain colours only.

3. Similar assistance is available to obtain a - release of blankets if these are urgently necessary.

Q.What is going to be the position about getting a house when I return to New Zealand? How will the Rehabilitation Department help?

A. —The position will not be easy. There is a serious housing shortage as a result of the war, for both tradesmen and materials have had to be diverted to war purposes. You will

have to be patient and not expect to walk into a place as soon as you land.*

The Rehabilitation Department will help you in the following ways:—

1. Of all State Rental Houses built half are allocated to returned servicemen. This helps a lot, but many servicemen are applying and you may have to wait some time before you get one.

2. By loans of up to L 1,500 to enable you to purchase or erect a home of your own. The interest rate on these loans is 2 per cent, for the first year and 3 per' cent, thereafter. Capital and interest are repayable over a period of years dependent on your means. Servicemen wishing to erect homes of their own have priority for building materials second only to that given to State Rental Houses. 'So far as purchase of- existing houses is concerned the local Rehabilitation Officer keeps a register of suitable properties in the district.

Q. —I bought a place before I joined the Army and have a mortgage on i • Will I be able to change this mortgage to one under the Rehabilitation provisions ?

A.—This depends on your circumstances. If you can show as the result of war service it would cause y undue hardship to continue paying * the old rate, the Department may

you, but if your position on your return is no worse than when you bought the place then assistance will not necessarily be forthcoming. This is not really unjust. You bought in a much cheaper market than the man who is now buying a home.

Q. —I had a farm which I had to leave to join the Army. My father, who is getting on in years, has been trying to look after it, but he hasn’t been able to do much and says that the place has gone back. Can I get any help when I get back to put it in proper order?

A.—Yes. If, as a result of your absence overseas the property has gone back, you can get an interest-free loan, epayable only ff you sell the place, to help you get it going again. You must remember, however, that owing to shortage of material (fertilizer and fencing wire, for instance) most places have. gone back a bit. Where the deterioration is due to general war conditions and not to your service you will not be eligible for a loan of this sort.

By the way, this assistance applies to all sorts of property, not only to farms.