The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1918. AN UNENVIABLE NOTORIETY.

Taihape Daily Times, 22 May 1918, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times. AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE

WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 1918. AN UNENVIABLE NOTORIETY.

(With which is Incorporated The -T&i* and Walummo News).,

The demand for houses, rooms and lodging in Tailiape, at the present 1 time, is, we beleve, unequalled and unprecedented in New Zealand. Indeed, it is somthing more than a demand, it clamour and a rush for houses, and this condition has obtained for several years past. A correspondent draws our attention to the subject, and says it is a positive scandal, and he cannot understand the pioneers of the town and men in business permitting the scandal to continue. We do not go quite the length of our conrrespondent, but we must admit that, in the interests and propress of the town it is essential there should be increased housing accommodation. Some months ago we advised an enquirer for a house to get a section and apply for a “Workers’ Loan” from the Government. He had considered all that, and he found that his obligations would be getting on for double what they would be if he did similarly in the town he came from.He said sections were too dear for .a'place like Taihape, more especially as nobody would build, and therefore there was no demand for them; building material was too costly, particularly iron and plumbing materials; labour was about as high as it could be, and after demanding fees of one kind and another, the Borough Authority instantly penalised the builder by saddling him with a rather severe demand for rates. If this man states what is true, and we think he does, there is some real cause for alarm. It is certain that shopkeepers cannot increase their turnover unless they can find a greater number of purchasers, and the town can grow no bigger unless more houses are erected. Taihape is in a dilemma, for nobody will erect houses, and therefore it cannot increase the number of its residents. As no such conditions obtain so severely in any other town of the Dominion, why do they exist in Taihape? It is not because rents are low, for they are soaring far away above every other city and town throughout the land except in Wellington; it Is not because a reasonable priced section is unobtainable, although there appears to be a considerable amount of land speculation going on; timber is not unreasonably priced, then, we have labour, ironwork, and plumbing materials; are they in themselves sufficient to deter one from building? After giving considefation to the subject we must say, we do not think they are; but, when the Borough Council steps in with its never-ending demand for a heavy annually recurring series of rates on top of the money that has already been spent, the worker finds the burden too heavy to take on, and the present property-owner cannot reduce rents and earn even a fair interest on his money, and naturally he will ot build more houses. We are asked why rents are nearly double what are asked in some other places, and yet houses are not obtainable. If land is no dearer, similar wages are paid to carpenters and plumbers, building;/, costs ;\bout the same, and moat,jQlher conditions are equal, there only. rema,ins the stupid unbusinesslike practice of rating improvements. Where rating is on un. improved value there is no house-fam-ine, rents are lower, and building for the natural growth of the community continues .except in cities where congestion is extreme. By far the largest number of boroughs, and even many counties and road districts have had to seek relief in rating on unimproved values. Right up from Wellington, Masterton, Eketahuna, Pahiatua, Dannevirke, Palmerston North, Feilding to Marton, all rate on unimproved values. Then to the north there Is Ohakune, Taumarunui, Frankton, Hamilton and right on up to Whangarei. Auckland still rates on capital values,

but wherever rating on unimproved 1 values has been adopted there has been no reversion to the old unfair system. Penalising progress in country towns is fatal it is practised. With the exception of the city of Wellington rents are much higher in places rated on capital values than they are in towns that have adopted the more progressive and reasonable system. At the top is Taihape, Wanganui, Auckland, New Plymouth, Napier, all .rating on capital values. Rents are lowest in Dannevirke, Pahiatua, Masterton, Palmerston, Foxton, Feilding, where rating is on unimproved values, As this subject Is of most vital interest to Taihape business men we think the Tradesmen’s Association might with profit to themselves and progress of the town give it earnest consideration. A fact we have to face is. that houses are simply unobtainable at the highest rents in the Dominion, while in Dannevirke, for instance, where building sites should be much more valuable, but where labour and building material should be the same, houses are found for increase of population at rents 25 per cent, lower than they are in Taihape. In the South Island we find similar conditions obtain; in Christchurch, Greymouth, and Invercargill, vvnere rating is on unimproved value* rents are lower than in Dunedin. At any rate, there is a cause for the dearth of houses together with the highest rents in New Zealand which must be explained and rectified before any improvement can be expected. By pursuing a policy of drift Taihape is driving families to towns where houses are obtainable and -rents are lower. It is irritating to have the heads of families who wish to settle in the town, appealing for house room that cannot be given, and to know that such people are departing from our midst in disgust to towns north and south where they can he accommodated, and at reasonable rents, We know there are people who have an idea that rating on unimproved values would he detrimental to their interests, but we hope to discuss the question further in future, and to allay any such fears or mistaken notions. At least, something must he done to save our town from the unenviable notoriety it is getting with respect to rents and house Accommodation. ‘ ■ r