The Dominion. FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1920. GRAPPLING WITH THE HOUSING PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 155, 26 March 1920, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1920. GRAPPLING WITH THE HOUSING PROBLEM

The announcement to-day by the Piume, Minister indicating the progress made by the Government with 'its house-building programme is •timely. The state _ of _ unccrtaipty in which the public is left from tiino to time as to what is being done, together with the very real difficulties which daily confront those in search of housing accommodation, -are liable to give rise to the idea .that matters, are art .a, standstill; that the schemes of the Government, and also of the municipalities which have. set. out to tackle, the'housing problem, are nothing: more than paper schemes, or, at any rate, .schemes -which offer very little prospect of any early improvement on existing conditions. That the, Government has not been as idle as many pe.ople appear to imagine is made plain from the figures now disclosed by Mr. Massey.' Already: 183 houses are in course of erection, while arrangements have been made for the erection of 122 others. In addition to this, the Railways Department, has in hand a scheme for the speedy erection of 400 standardised houses for railway employees, some of which are .al-ready under way. The Wellington City Council also has some buildings in course of erection, but it is clear from the facts available .that municipal enterprise in this direction has up to tiie present been hampered by shortago of labour and material, and the vosults in consequennc have beoir meagre and unsatisfactory. While the Government must be conceded credit for greater activity than has generally been given to it in the matter of its house-building _ programme, It is plain that existing methods will not proclucc the results required. The most hopeful sign up to the present is the departure made by the llaihvays Department. This Department has set out to build standardised houses on a large scale, preparing the material

in a factory of its own, and by the use of machinery and the standard-': ising of the main portions of the; framework reducing both .the labour" and the cost to a low figure and expediting construction. There is some prospect of quiclx results from a schcmc carried through on these lines. , _ '* Why should not similar methods bo adopted in connection with the j Government's general scheme of! house-building? In -most,cases 'the houses ;ai'c to .be built ; in .groups, and this should facilitate the use of' standardised pants and the adoption of labour-saving methods. There .is .another ; pqint which has; been well made by the secretary of the local Progress League, Oolonel Mitchell, M.P. Some days ago he suggested that the. Government should take steps which would ensure that all the available labour should be concentrated on -house-, building—dwellings for the people. Ho claimed that a great deal of the> labour was being diverted to what' he termed non-essential building construction; We suggested .at tlie. time .the Progress would be in a stronger position to press this point if it showed tho extent -to w'hich non-essential build-, ings were being erected, _ -ColonelMjtchell has now. provided -some l information on that phase of the situation, and though there may be differences of opinion as ,to what may constitute .non-essential buildings, the .matter is ono calling, for; investigation. Mr. Massey is having a census taken of the building construction that i,s going on: throughout the Dominion, and this should throw .further -light .on .thesubject. The head of the 'Government is satisfied on tjhe information available that there is more activity in building than at any previous time in the'.history-of New Zealand. Probably he is right, and when the full -details are available they may indicate .a brighter prospect than is generally supposed. But the existing shortage, coupled with the prospective added demand due to the expected' flow of immigration from overseas at no distant date, leaves no room for doubt that the needs of the situation will not be met without the greatest possible speeding-up o.f the Government and municipal' house-building sehemes. To ensure this, the Government must take prompt measures to provide-that the. available building* material .and la-; hour will be utilised in the directions they,are most urgently needed.;] that standardisation and iabour-sav-ing methods shall be employed to the, fullest possible extent; and that where possible the work shall be : handed over to building contractors' accustomed to undertakings -on ailarge scale, ,and skilled in utilisinglabour and machinery 4o the >bost advantage. Given these conditions,; there should be a marked speeding Up in the rate of house : build.ing of the class required to meet the' urgent necessities of the times.