Building Trade.

Hokitika Guardian, 8 February 1922, Page 4

Building Trade.

POSITION TN AUCKLAND

AUCKLAND, February 5

The prospect for those engaged in the building trade in Auckland is not over bright, according to several contractors who discussed the subject yesterday. While a number of large buildings are in course of erection in the city, and many smaller structures and dwellings are under construction in the suburbs; there is very little new work in prospect the builders being of opinion that until the workers are prepared to accept lower wages to enable prices to be reduced, many who contemplate the erection of business premises and residences will hesitate to place orders. Some of the larger contractors with extensive works in hand arc able to keep their staffs employed, but the falloff in residential building has thrown many carpenters’ and builders’ labourers out of work. For the last six months there has been pretty general activity in the building of dwellings of from four to six rooms. It is stated that the majority of these houses havo been for soldiers who built with financial assistance from the Government. The withdrawal of Government aid, owing to the financial depression, has temporarily put a stop to this work, and the few jobs now offering are being keenly sought after by builders, who .have cut their tenders to the finest ’possible point. One builder stated that people requiring new houses could not go wrong in authorising work, as the competition between builders was resulting in tenders very much below rates quoted in normal times. For one cottage there were no fewer than 24 tenders, and many of them were very close to the actual cost of building. A deal of this kind of work is in prospect, and any lowering of wages enabling builders to reduce their estimates would have the effect of encouraging building, and thus provide work for many men who are now unemployed. There is apparently very great competition going on in the matter of subcontracting, especially for the painting and plumbing of new houses, and the price-cutting being indulged in has brought the cost of building down somewhat. Builders generally bold that wages are the c hief obstacle to a substantial cut in the cost of building, as some materials have been showing a downward tendency. GaJ- 1 vanised iron, which went up in price from about £lB before the war to about £75 at peak, is now about £34 locally and indents have been quoted at £23. Average dwellings require from 18cwt. to 22cwt. of this‘iron. . Timber is comparatively easy to get, and although local prices have n,Ot moved much, builders are inclined to think that rates must ease. There is no shortage of cement, and paints and oils dhow a tendency. Bricks are also plentiful, and while prices are firm, builders consider that a drop is not unlikely. Despite these inducements to increased building activities, no works of nffy magniture are offering, small buildings and alterations up to about £2OOO constituting the chief orders.