GOVERNMENT HOUSING

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 444, 27 May 1937, Page 5

GOVERNMENT HOUSING

RENTAL CHARGES Estate Agent’s Comment Comment The rentals proposed to be charged for houses erected under the Government housing scheme appeared to be quite reasonable but without knowing the class of dwelling to be built, and the cost, it would be Impossible to say whether an estimated rental was a fair one, stated a Stratford estate agent to the "Central Press” to-day.

Referring to the average rentals, which, after making an allowance of 2/6 a week rebate for good tenancy, range from 17/6 a week for a threeroomed flat without a sun porch in a two-unit house, to £1 Is for a sixromed dwelling, he said that the rentals were just about equal to what was obtainable in Stratford and similar towns throughout the Dominion. He considered tjiat in the large centres of population where rents were very high people would benefit, but it was difficult to see where any advantage would be enjoyed by the pborer class. The cost of building an average house, he continued, had gone up by about £2OO, and it remained to he seen what type of house the Government could build for the rentals announced. It was impossible for the Government to do any more than the private individual, as there were always a certain number of unsatisfactory tenants and no. doubt the Government would be just as particular as the private owner. The Government, fie added, was doing what could quite well have been left to private enterprise and In his opinion they had quite enough to do without concerning themselves with the large scale erection of houses.