THE RENT QUESTION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 39, 9 November 1918, Page 3

THE RENT QUESTION

' EFFECT OF LEGISLATION REVIEW BY LABOUR DEPART Man'! , Keferenco to the rent problem in Wellington was uiaau in tue annual report oj tnu uepaniuent ot Lauuur i resented u> cno .Uvimauvo Council. "in omor to prevent increases in rein on the part of lundioras on account 01 ihe ufjiiuiunil eoiuutiuns cuiuseu wy tliu wad , , legislation was passed <i living recant serious 01 Parliament, cstawwuiiit; i> t>asis on which rents should be nxed," says Cue report. "The provisions or itiu Ace have nau most effect in tile Wellington district. Undoubtedly in the Wellington district the uuul ior 'egisiation of Una nature was greatly felt, ironi Aovenvoo) 1, 1!)17, to Aiareh 31, 1918, upwards oi zw inquiries were received in U>e city, aiici arising out of tnese 102 applications loi reduction of rent were ;nade to iuspec< tors, uf these applications 27 were set. tied favourably to the applicants by the .Department without leeourso to the Court, Forty-three applicants ti'ero advised that tiiey had no cause of actiou; nventy-iour applications were filed in the Court, seven of which were then settled out of Court by reduction of rent. Three were withdrawn owing to th« tenant leaving the houses before thb cases were heard, and nine were decided in favour of the landlord, and five in favour of the tenant. There were only twenty-seven applications received by the Department in other parts of ths Dominion, ltoni various parts of the Dominion expressions of appreciation and approval of the legislation have buen received, and it is .apparent that even in those districts I where no definite actiou is necessary it will prove an effective deterrent from exploitation on the part of the owners of dwellingkmses,.

"A. number of complaints have been made that the Act loses its effect to some extent by the fact that a prospective tenant i 3 sometimes required to- pay a bonus in order to secure a dwelling. Action or.nnot 'be taken in such cases unless it is found that the bonus is received by the owner. So far as can be ascertained, the outgoing tenant is generally the recipient. Complaints have also been made that excessive rents have been charged tor dwellings in business'portions of the city. In this connection, Section 20 of the 1917 Amendment Act provides for a valuation by the Valuation Department of a dwellinghouse, 'as such,' but does not require the Court to base its decision on that valuation, although it shall 'take into account.' The Court has under this section accepted other expert evidence, and it may 'be said that experts have differed considerably in their opinions of vnlues. It should be pointed ouit also that the rates on dwellings in business areas (and in many cases fire insurance aleo) are higher than they would be in a residential area. Such items are fair charges to include in the rental."