HOUSE-ROOM & RENTS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2867, 4 September 1916, Page 8

HOUSE-ROOM & RENTS

WELLINGTON'S POPULATION

WHAT STATISTICS SHOW

Not the least important of the many questions which, have been agitating wot only those who sit around the horse-shoe table in the City Council Chamber, but also the political mind in Parliament, has been the extraordinary demand for house accommodation ill Wellington during tiie last six months, and the slight hardening of the rents, an essential corollary, as houses as well as goods are affected by the la-v of supply and demand. the demand exceeds the supply, it will be found that higher rents obtain not because the landlord demands them, but because tenants offer them. But has not Wellington been placed in an altogether wrong position in respect to rents and house accommodation? Seeking information that should bear most correctly on the subject, one naturally looks for official guidance, which is soon ■ furnished in tho very excellentreports of the Registrar-General, and aro published monthly In the "Gazette." One takes; so much for granted in.these days that the figures dealing with tho population of Wellington City and Greater Wellington over a period of, say, the last six years; is rather startling in their application to the alleged congested state of Wellington. In a recent report as to the cost of living in the various centres of New Zealand it was stated that Wellington j was about in tbe middle of the list as regards the cost of articles of clothing and food, But the rents put us up to the topmost position as the . dearest place to live in. in New Zealand. It was the well-known head of the Chamberlain Remedies Company, who, when visiting Wellington some ..ten years ago, when told of the high cost of land and living in Wellington, said it was the healthiest of signs, and one that pointed to Wellington as likely-to be the most prosperous city in "the future. "If you want to live cheap; go to India and live on rice," said Mr. Chamberlain, "a sixpenco will keep you for a_ week thero. Personally, I prefer to livo in New York, the dearest city in the world!"

But to return to Mr. Malcolm Eraser's figures, it seems a remarkable thing to say, and a fact that is against every argument that ha? been used as the cause of -high rents, that the population of Wellington is smaller to-day than it was six years ago. That- is what Mr Fraser says, and he should know. If there he any reasonablo doubt as to the correctness of that statement, they can bo dispelled by <i glance at his figures (as published =in' the "Gazette"). Here they are:—

Population of Wellington. / Greater City. 'Wellington. IQIO 71,533 76,390 1911 72,991 78,243 1912 64,926 71,427 1913 .! 66,138 72,892 1914 67,446 74,766 1915 67,446 74,811 1916 (Jan. 1) ...... 67,446 74,811 1916 (March)'...,... 67,230 75,055 Thus it is shown that since the year 1910 the population both of Wellington City (that is, the area roughly outlined by the surrounding hills) and Greater Wellington, has decreased, not very appreciably may be, but the wonder is, that with Wellington so congested the figures do not show a very big increase in the population. That, however, is only one pliasa of this reiit-cum-house-room question, for ' whilst the population has increased (for which statement we have tlio 11-egistrar-Gen-eral'a official declaration) it must not be supposed thqfc Wellington" has stood still in respect to supplying that deficiency we are constantly being reminded of—house accommodation.. If it can'be proved that there is more accommodation to-day in Wellington than there was in v l9lO or 1911 (in which year our population tvas highest) then it would hardly be fair to say that the city is congested, or that the alleged congestion is a factor in the scale of rents now ruling. Then all we have todo to remove that imputation is to prove that our accommodation is' more adequate than it was say four years ago.' The books of the City Engineer show that in Wellington city and suburbs 191 houses were erected in 1913, 225 in 1914, 253 in 1915, and ■30S in 1916 (year ending March 31-in each instance). So ill only four years houses have been erected which on the average would accommodato five people each. This substantial addition to the city':; house-rocm gives accommodation for nearly another 5000 people. Tiiat provision, in the face of a drop in population, should hardly make for congestion or higher rents, one "would think. In these figures, tho new buildings which have gone up m Eastbourne, Onslow, Ksrori, and Jliramar ra'c not included, a3 these places are not within the boundaries of Great-, or Wellington. . And vet, though the population lias decreased, rather (ban- increased, the values have, been increased by the Government, and taxes have been imposed' accordingly (which may bo a factor in the rent problem, but one that exonerates the landlord). The Government canno.t raise the value of a city like. Wellington by a million ami throe-quarters, and expect rents to recede, or even remain as thc\ w ere. nor can it raise the values further, and restrict rents bv Act of Parliament. Hero is shown' the rise in valuations which have occurred during the last four Years only-, and those (vide recent sales) arc far below market values. Capital Un- M value, improved. Improved. Year ~ W>j:i IS.U2S.HH4 M9US4 R,236,9(10 jo kA ... 19.161,425 1ft,091,200 9,070,225 o.n 1.9 760,942 11,170,(159' 8,590,853 191£16 I!! 19!974,685 11,309,416 8,665,269 The problem is an interesting one that has more in it than can be explained bv a deputation from the Trades and Labour Council, whose chief weapon is the abuse of the grasping landlord. Perhaps there is something pl'ter a'l in what Chamberlain hinted at. a "> Wellington is a vcrv pleasant and- prosperous place, oven 'though Mr. Eraser tells us that its population has decreased. Curiously enough, whilst Wellington is the place where rents are highest and trade is best, it is the only centre out of the fnu r whose population is recorded (officially) as having decreased. .