AUCKLAND WORKMEN’S HOMES.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2133, 6 March 1908, Page 2

AUCKLAND WORKMEN’S HOMES.

BUILDING MATERIALS

CONDEMNED. Press Association. AUCKLAND. March 5. It was alleged at the Auckland Trades and Labor Council meeting last evening, that the class of timber being put 'into most of the workmen’s homes, especially in' the suburbs, was very poor in quality, and of such a nature that the health of occupants was endangered. Mr Peak, who introduced the subject, said the high price of timber had something to do with it. Some of the houses were built with rotten framing, and medium quality weather-boards, _ but everything was covered up as quickly as possible by scrim, paper, and paint. Tiles© houses were sold on easy terms, and after a couple of years, they fell to pieces. It was simply a case of defrauding the buyer. The President of the Council (Mr A. Rosser) said he had seen the outside portions of the logs, which had lain in Freeman’s Bay for some time, and so became soaked with sewage, being put into the houses. Some years ago he had worked on a- house in Eden Terrace for a speculative builder, and it was erected in eleven days. It was decided that all local bodies be written to, and asked to instruct the building inspectors to give a certificate as to the class of timber used in all buildings.