HOUSING PROBLEM.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16726, 8 January 1920, Page 6

HOUSING PROBLEM.

T 1 ' BUILDING OPERATIONS IN DUNEDIN. (SPECIAI. TO "THE Pn*SS.") DI'XEDIX. January 7. Docs the existing tendenry towards a liiehor standard of living extend to tin* building or purchase of dwelling-houses? This question was put to on architect ond a builder this morning, and was .answered in the affirmative. People who o few years ago would have been quite content and comfortable in a cottage of timber, scrim, and paper, with iron roof, now want nothing less than a bungalow, brick for choice, with gas anil oltxrtric light, hot' and cold water, porcelain bath, and all other modern conveniences. An improvement in living conditions is always o desiral»h> thing, but the trouble at present is that a modern dwelling .such as this costs quite double, what it used to do in prewar times, when £80 to £100 per room was tin; estimato for an average cottage. and even in these prosperous times the wage-earner, or even tho salaried man, cannot lightly incur a liability of £1000 to £1500 for a house. Another effect of this high cost of building is to prevent builders and other investors erecting homes for renting. They conld not get an adequate return for their outlay. This is ono reason for tho of tho housing problem. Nevertheless, there is a lot. of work on hand, and a tremendous amount waiting, for people who put off building during tho war now realise that prices will never come down to tho old level, and so are anxious to pn ahead and do the best llie.v can. There would he a boom, therefore, if ade<piato labour was available, but, it is not. Thousands of artisans could obtain employment in the building trade in Dunodin alone if they were to be got.. A largo numl>er of men have been lured away bv the promise of big pay in Uip North Island. This mav pan out all right for them, but, again, they mav find that the higher cost of living which undoubtedly obtains in the larger northern centres will absorb most of the increased pay. Again, many men go into the countrv in the .summer, preferring a temporary spell in rural districts, with tho good pay and "tucTcer" which the contractors for houses for returned soldier settlers, and other jobs are ready to give, to the steady wage in town. Then, too many of these soldier settlers themcelvcc. are artisans, who are forsaking t he hammer and plane the plough and the hoe.