HOUSING POLICY.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 337, 19 January 1937, Page 3

HOUSING POLICY.

Scope Temporarily Restricted Unseasonable Seasons. Press Association—Copyright. Wellington, Last Night. An unexpected difficulty due to the Government’s policy is going to temporarily restrict the scope of the new housing policy. Applications are only approved from wage-earners whose income, including that of wife, does not exceed £6 per week, though there is a concession respecting families. When the Government legislated to provide ample finance for dwellings, either rented or purchasable, it also made provision during the same session for substantial increases in wages, the 1931 rates being restored as a minimum. Economic conditions having improved, the skilled worker is now happily able to regard £6 per week as coming below what he can generally earn, but this advantage will exclude him from the Government housing scheme’s benefits. No income limit was indicated in the recent legislation, and it has been found that the Housing Act of 1919, with its £312 per annum income limit, still applies. As this will probably exclude a large class of suitable applicants, it is certain that there will be legislation next session to raise the income standard, though meanwhile the 1919 restriction is the law and cannot be ignored.