REPATRIATION AND HOUSING.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 8, Issue 463, 12 September 1919, Page 2

REPATRIATION AND HOUSING.

The housing problem, tar from becoming a less pressing one, is more acute than ever, the reason being that the Repatriation Department has been granting loans to a large number of returned soldiers for the purchase of dwellings. This policy may suit the returned soldier, out it is inimical to the interests of all others in want of houses, the latter having to move out when the houses are sold over their heads. It has also provided a harvest for property owners and house agents, to the detriment of the community as a whole. The Department would be serving the country much better if it encouraged building wherever such was feasible, even if in some cases delay were caused by the railway restrictions on the carriage of timber. Rveryoue wants to give the returned soldier a new start in life, but surely this can be done without inflicting hardships on the rest of the community ! The mere changing of ownership of houses will not settle the problem : new houses must be erected all over the Dominion, and every State Department should assist such a policy to the utmest.