The Dominion MONDAY, MAY 26, 1919. THE DEMAND FOR HOMES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 206, 26 May 1919, Page 4

The Dominion MONDAY, MAY 26, 1919. THE DEMAND FOR HOMES

An expectation tha,t the Townplanning Conference which concluded on Friday evening would have results of practical value has not been disappointed. Some of the questions discussed were left, of necessity, at an inconclusive stage, but in regard to one at least, that of housing, the conference carried its deliberations to a point which may reasonably be expected to mark the inauguration of a new, broad, and comprehensive policy. The provision of adequate housing for the people is obviously one of the most serious and urgent problems awaiting solution in this country, and it will be generally agreed that sound judgment was shown in giving it the prominent place it occupies in the conference recommendations. With so many experts gathered together even more detaileel and explicit recommendations might have been expected, but _as it is broadly outlined the policy suggested commends itself as likely to prove effective. Because prompt measures on a big scale are necessary, and for other reasons, the conference is certainly right in urging that the Government and local authorities should co-operate in housing schemes. Even if it were simply a question o£ expediting the construction of houses under much the same conditions as have hitherto obtained this combination of State and ' local action, would make for a comprehensive policy, and would simplify the financial and other 'problems by which local bodies are faced in undertaking any new enterprise. But the demand to be satisfied is not merely for additional houses, but for better houses in better Surroundings. This, of course, enlarges the scope of benefits to be attained by State and local body co-operation. As regards the expert advice which is needed everywhere in order that the hapfcasarcl methods hitherto followed in the construction of houses and the extension of residential areas may be superseded, the Minister of •Intehnal Affairs has promised that he will without delay ask Cabinet to sanction. the appointment of a town-planner, in anticipation of Parliamentary, approval. Proceeding on these fines it should be possible to constitute a Town-planning Board in the comparatively near future.

The crux of the housing problem is, of course, finance. . It is difficult at present to estimate even approximately the financial provision that will have to be made for a housing policy on a sufficiently comprehensive scale, but although the initial outlay is bound to be large, the whole amount expended ought to be ultimately recoverable, and much of it in a comparatively short term of years. The best system which can be established is one under which the ownership of houses will be acquired by those' who are to live in them. The option of cash purchase bho\i!d be given to bona-fide occupiers, but in most cases the acquisition of the home would have to be on the deferred payment system. At a comparatively early stage, with matters so arranged, repayments would appreciably swell the amounts directly made available year by year in furtherance of housing schemes. As a beginning, the conference recommended that tho Government provide a sum of £1,000,000, out of which to subsidise local bodies' to the extentof up to one-third of the cost of approved building schemes on townplamting lines. The expenditure of something like three millions thus contemplated would no doubt have to be augmented'considerably before all demands were met. Indeed, it seems ycry i ,possible ■ that financial provision for housing may have to be augmented until a fund capable of meeting indefinitely continuing demands has been created. If the construction of houses is undertaken by the State and local bodies on a really big scale and on practical lines the tendency obviously will be to establish a monopoly and to exclude private enterprise altogether so far as this department 'oi building is concerned. The only thing to be feared is that the shortcomings of public management may result in failure to effect some of the economies that otherwise might be expected from big-scale organisation of the supply of materials and of methods of construction. Cooperation between the State and local authorities should result, however, in more efficient management than if the State either assumed sole responsibility or left' housing entirely to local bodies.

While .it is in every way desirable that the standards set, should be as high as possible, it would only defeat the object aimed at to set them too high. Houses are needed in great numbers as well as of a quality that will make them satisfactory homes, and this implies that tiie factor of economy must be given al l possible attention from the outset, and that anything of a fanciful or extravagiiiit nature must be rigorously excluded from housing plans. Mil. Bussell summed up the position very well when he said that all tho building should be done with a view to comfort and efficiency, but not to luxury. One method of effecting economies which was mentioned at the conference and deserves attention is that of constructing houses in rows or terraces. Tenement blocks of the typo common in most older countries certainly ought to be ' excluded from J?ew Zealand cities. But where materials more substantial than timber are employed, and aesuming that a duo proportion of a given area is reserved as a breathing-space, there is no such objection to building a limited number of houses, in a continuous block.

For Wellington and some other places there is particular interest in the suggestion made by Mr. F. W. RcnvLUY (Secretary for Labour) that it would be highly advantageous in promoting a housing ■ scheme to secure an area of farm land outside an existing borough and on a railway line, but not immediately adjacent to an existing station. At the, same time 'it is a point to be duly emphasised that at present one of the most serious obstacles to the natural extension of this city is the absurd veto imposed by the Railway Department upon the construction of- a tramway along the Hutt Road. Now that Onslow has joined the city tho effect of this unnatural restriction is to prevent tho city developing its tramway system within its own boundaries. Bucl' a handicap on progress is not to bo

tolerated, and one of the first steps the city must take in attempting an effective attack on the housing problem is to demand and secure its abolition. Here and in connection with other projected tramway extensions it would obviously be sound policy to acquire beforehand lands which lend themselves to develop-* ment as residential areas but can' only be made available for that purpose by municipal enterprise.