HOUSE SHORTAGE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 201, 20 May 1920, Page 4

HOUSE SHORTAGE

r—f UNESSENTIAL BUILDING STOPPED

ACTION BY THE GOVERNMENT

. Iho Government, has decided to put lino operation the power it has under statute of stopping unnecessary building, 1,1 order that available, labour and capital for building may be concentrated on the construction of houses, the object of the decision being to •recover some of Iho present housing shortage all over tho country.

It is provided by section .35 of the War Legislation Amendment Act, 1017, that the Governor-General may by regulations under the War Regulations Act, 1911, make such provisions as, having regard to the exigencies of the present war or the conditions created thereby, he thinks advisable, inter alia, for the following purposes:—For prohibiting or restricting the use of labour or captal in or connected with any industry, undertaking, or purpose that may be deemed by the Gov-ernor-General to 1m not essential or only partially essential for the public welfare. A regulation made by the GovernorGeneral under this authority runs as follows :—

"On and after the coming into force of these regulations it shall not bo lawful for any local authority or fnr any person or body corporate to undertake or commence any development works, or to enter into any contract for any such works during the continuance of these regulations without having first obtained, pursuant .to these regulations, the consent of the Finance Minister so to do."

There is a further regulation as follows :—

"Nothing in the foregoing regulations shall apply to any development works the estimated total cost of which does not exceed ,£3OOO, or to any building proposed to be erected wholly or principally for residential purposes." Tiie Prime Minister said yesterday that Cabinet had decided to put these regulation!; into operation forthwith, but they would bo applied only to building: works, and not to any other works, aiul they would not be applied to any building in course of construction. People wishing to embark upon building enterprises other than the building of residential places must in future come to the Minister of Finance, and the Minister would act in accordance with these regulations, until the present housing difficulty comes to an end, or that phase, of it caused by shortage of labour and shortage of materials.

Mr. Massey said thnt lie was informed by t'-ie Labour Department that there were 1200 residences at present in course of erection in New Zealand, and that tihis was probably to a rate of construction of from 4000 to 5000 houses per year. He expected to get nore accurate figures in the course of a few days. He repeated his former statement that he was advised that there had never before been so much timber produced in the country as was being produced at present.