This house was built at Tokomaru Bay by the Department of Maori Affairs for Mr Kareti and Mrs Heapera Collier. (photograph: john ashton). To help those who had no farms two Acts were passed: the Maori Housing Act of 1935, and the Maori Housing Amendment Act, 1938. In the first the Government made housing finance available to the ordinary run of persons who had no large land holdings but could repay a mortgage out of earnings. The Amendment provided a special fund for those who badly needed housing but could not raise the security and loan repayments the earlier Act required. At the outset the houses were simple and inexpensive. Built by the field supervisors of the Native Department and by the Public Works Department, they cost between £300 and £600 and provided just the bare essentials. In 1944, a separate building organization was established as part of the Department of Maori Affairs. Building supervisors and oversers were appointed and gangs of workmen recruited. An architect was put at the department's disposal with instructions to gradually make designs equal to the best for pakeha housing. Maori welfare officers help the people to apply for housing and report on living conditions and personal circumstances. If the build- The front entrance of Mrs Heather's home Tuakau. (photograph: john ashton).