HIGH RENTAL BLAMED

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 109, 1 February 1935, Page 12

HIGH RENTAL BLAMED

Overcrowding in Houses

PROBLEM OF RENTS Citing high rentals as the principal cause of overcrowding in houses, Mr. N. C. Haigh, A.R.1.8.A., in an address given to the conference of the Royal Sanitary Institute yesterday, attributed this state of affairs to individual ownership and. its effect on speculation, development, building and finance. Rents, he said, had been reduced considerably by legislation and natural causes and were now in many cases below their tjrue rental value, as rental values had not been reduced to the same extent. “Can we house our people at a rent, that they can afford to pay in dwellings which we are prepared to admit are fit for the purpose without loss to the owners or a subsidy from the State?” asked Mr. Haigh. “Under the present conditions and system of ownership, finance, and building, the thing is impossible. Private enterprise has built and will continue to build dwellings for those who can afford to pay for them, but who is going to build those for our lower-paid citizens who cannot "afford the rental value? Working Man’s Difficulty. “Must they, from force of necessity, live in overcrowded dwellings unfit for human habitation? Are we to control rental value's and bring a suitable dwelling within the means of our lower paid workers, or are high rental values to control and restrict us? Although the Government in England has been aiding housing financially since the war, it was recognised a few years ago that the problem was not being solved. Many houses were built under various schemes, but these were not houses that the working man could afford. At the present time a Housing Bill is before Parliament.

“Relieving overcrowding is regarded as a greater difficulty than slum clearance, and calls for an enormous number of dwellings to be let at rentals within the means of the lower paid workers. The recognised aim seems to 6e about 10/- a week. “There appears to be only two ways of dealing with the problem—by subsidy, or by lowering the rental value. There is more scope for lowering the rental values in New Zealand than in England, and I think, all means of doing this should be considered before a subsidy is suggested.” Mr. Haigh went on to say that there was a great difference between the rental values in the Dominion and England, and the high value in New Zealand would probably be attributed to high rates, high cost of land, material and labour, high interest on money, high cost of upkeep and insurance on timber houses, by-laws governing construction, and. until recently, large profits by builders, sub-contrac-tors and landlords. One could not expect to reduce rental values to what they were in England because the building costs were higher, but the ra’tio of rent to average wages should not vary much. “Individual” Ownership. Dealing with the “individual” ownership system, Mr. Haigh said that the freehold system and policy of past Governments of encouraging and helping men to own their own homes were noble ideals, but property to many people of moderate means was n source of worry. The desire for complete ownership of. a home did not appear to be as strong as was imagined, and it would also be difficult to induce anyone to put money into housing for letting purposes while rental values were higher than the obtainable rent. Many people w cupying dwellings which were being purchased under “time payment” or were mortgaged, and a number, who were forced to put all their savings into that class of house in order to get a roof over their heads, had nowlost The system was really a nominal one, which practically forced people, usually inexperienced, to raise a mortgage, buy land,, build a house, and then, spend the remainder of their lives in trying to keep their heads above water. It was a system which tended to create depreciated areas, and which tended to foster the idea that the individual should be allowed to do just as he liked on his own property, irrespective of the effects on the ' neighbours or the community, in order to be able to hold the property, carry out repairs, or pay the rates.