THREE FAMILIES "SQUAT" IN HOUSE

Chronicle (Levin), 11 April 1947, Page 6

THREE FAMILIES "SQUAT" IN HOUSE

SEVENTEEN ROOMS EMFTY FOR NINE MONTHS ' WELLINGTON, April 10. Three families have "squatted" in a 17-foomed house in Berhampore which has been„standing vacant for nearly nine months and the ownership of which is uncertain at present. There are 14 pepple in the house and as the result of a visit by other people today, there are prospects of another half dozen. The families", which had reach ed desperation point as far as accommodation was concerned, have the sup port of-'tlie Wellington Histrict Committee of the Communist Party which is nqw' engaged in seeking the assistance o^ a number of organisations with the objeet of making representations to the Government for the immediate intrO duction of measures to meet the honsing emergency. The first family entered the house on Good Pri'day. The liusband brought his wife and child from England six weeks ago amd "hopeless" living conditions made them take the desperate step. They found gas laid oh, clean sanitary arrangements, an up-to-date wash-room, hot water service and a labyrinth of rooms waiting to be occupied. They brought in bare necessities of furniture and, following a request to the electricity department, had power connected. Another two families arrived and the colony was formed. A playroom has already been set aside for the children and in one particularly large room preparations are in progress to have it converted into a community room. Three or four times the poiice have visited the house since Easter but according to thqse who were there today, nothing apart from a request for , statements has happeued. One family had come to the cnd of its financial tether. The husba.nd and wife had been paving £7 a week in rent. Another man, wife and child had been foreed to take a small room at a prohibitive rent and live in squalid conditions. A third family had also been living in a singie room. The rent for two adults had been £5 5s a week and for the child an extra £2 12s (id was ne'cessary. Bed and "breakf'ast" were all that had been provided. The Wellington District Commitee of the Communist Party, in a letter to other organisations such as the R.S.A., political parties, unions and City Mis sion, appeals for support in making representations to the Government. The committee suggests that the Government should be asked to implement a national transit housing scheme and that all unoccupied premises should be requisitioned for families in urgent need of accommodation.