REHABILITATION LOANS ARE STILL IN STRONG DEMAND

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 12, 15 July 1949, Page 7

REHABILITATION LOANS ARE STILL IN STRONG DEMAND

Demand from ex-servicemen and women for rehabilitation loans continues unabated, according to the Rehabilitation Department. This is exemplified by most recent statistics from the Department, which show that during the month of May loan authorisations totalled £1,181,009 to 1,518 applicants. These figures are higher than those of May 1948, when the authorisations totalled £962,824 to 1,324 applicants. Authorisations at the end of May totalled £63,474,157 to 79,054 exservicemen and women. Loans have been for farms, houses, businesses, furniture, tools of trade and miscellaneous purposes. There were 88 new farm loans approved during May bringing the total to 5,832 valued at £24,344,832., Loans to build houses numbered 201 for the month, with a further 275 for purchase of existing dwellings, the total value of these being £444,119 and £290,575 respectively.

Totals until the end of May were: Building loans 11,032, £15,807,303; purchase loans, 15,040, £14,954 782. Included were 14,465 interest-free supplementary loans worth £2,177,303, intended to bridge the gap between pre-war prices and presentday costs. Altogether at the end of May, 42,441 ex-servicemen had received direct housing assistance through the Rehabilitation Board.

Other forms of loan assistance were: Business loans for May 131 (£88,467) to date 7,574 (£4,752,785), free of interest loans to purchase furniture, for May 812 (£75,626), to date 37,874 (£3,491,078); free of interest loans to purchase tools of trade, for May 5 (£195), to date 1331 (£43,980); miscellaneous other advances, for May 6 (£2,169), to date 371 (£79,397). There have, in addition to those included above, been considerable numbers of Maori ex-servicemen who have been assisted through the Maori Rehabilitation Finance Committee instead of through the normal rehabilitation channels open to both Maori and pakeha.