UNSATISFIED DEMAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 August 1919, Page 7

UNSATISFIED DEMAND.

WELLINGTON HOUSE FAMINE. ACUTE POSITION REACHED. Wellington, July 30. "t don't know what the end of it is to be," in precisely the same terms three of the leading land agents in Wellington expressed their complete bewilderment in contemplating the housing question. These gentlemen were all agreed as to the extreme dearth of houses and of the extreme need for action on the part of some person or body to provide a better supply of dwellings for the people of the city. Facts discovered do not support the popular theories that the .shortage of houses is due to war causes having reduced the amount of building being done in the city and suburban borough. The building rate has been, at least, normal, but there has been an abnormal increase in the population, with the result that there is an enormous unsatisfied demand for houses. THE OVERCROWDING EVIL. Overcrowding is one of the most deplorable results of the lack of housing. It is going on everywhere, beini; worst in the poorer quarters of the city, but it ei'ists in the best suburbs. In almost every street are houses occupied By two families, and in some streets practically every house is so used. All the available information goes to show that the landlords are hot the chief offenders in this overcrowding, but that they are actually sufferers by it. The overcrowding is done, in nine cases out of ten, by tenants who, having taken houses the lent of which arey are unable or unwilling to pay, sub-lot some of their rooms to reduce their own expenses. Only in rare cases is the landlord the party who tries to make profits by. crowdingNO RELIEF SINCE ARMISTICE. For at least ten years there has been no plentiful supply of houseß for rettting In Wellington, but l the position has never in that period been anything like so bad as it is to-day. During the war it was hoped that the position would improve when the camps dispersed and some of the Government war activities ceased. Things have almost reached a state of normality in Wellington now, but the housing problem is worse than it has ever been, rive and six-roomed houses are most in demand, and, roughly speaking, they are unprocurable. Fortunate people do find one by chance now and then, but these are places that never go into the market for competition., MANY BUYERS'IN MARKET. . Tho impossibility of obtaining security of tenure in rented houses has forced hundreds of people into the market as buyers of houses. There are more buyers now than sellers, and the buyer? all have money to pay, and the £SO deposit is never heard of in these days. Some of the most prominent people in business an sellers'of bouses find that they can sell all the houses given to (hem on a 'cash over mortgage' 1 rule, an", they seldom do business on any other basis. Years ago a buyer could get a good five-roomed house if he hod £IOO. The man with ,£IOO or £l5O m.iy still he able to buy a modest properly, but he will get a much better choice if he has £-260 or £3OO. It is impossible to borrow in Wellington on a second mortgage, und if there has to be a second mortgage it has to be carried by the vendor. Even under these conditions, land agent* are doing boom business. Last year some of them made record figures, and this year they are doing better. HEAVY BUILDING COSTS. The common quotation for the cost of building a house is £2OO a room, but the j-eal cost often proves to be much higher. For a tastefully-built house, with all modern improvements in interior decorations and conveniences, and with (airly large rooms, the rate seems to be about £l5O a room. The cheapest quotation given for the smallest five-roomed house, built with the utmost economy, was £750. These are all prices {"or wooden houses. No estimates are procurable for other materials, but it is generally agreed that prices for brick are higher. On every hand there is a demand that the* City Council or the Government should embark on a large building scheme to supply the great need of Wellington-