BUILDING BRISK.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 June 1922, Page 4

BUILDING BRISK.

ACTIVITY IN NEW PLYMOUTH. MAY PERMITS TOTAL £18,300. A striking indication of the expansion! of New Plymouth is provided by the activity in the buildiiw trade during May, when the borough inspector (Mr. R. Day) issued permits to the value of £18,300, which is almost twice the total for the corresponding month of last year, when the value of the permits issued amounted to £9300. The figures for April of this year were £15,700. The amount of the fees collected last month was £73, Whilst in May, 1921, the fees were £45. Included in last month’s total were permits for two new shops, 20 new houses, and a new butter-room. The value of the permits for last month was the best for some time, said Mr. Day, yesterday, and easily the best for this year. Good classes of houses are being erected, the majority being of the bungalow type. The houses are mostly of five rooms and average about £BOO in price. One point Mr. Day wished to make dear. Though building is brisk and the men engaged in the trade are fully occupied, there is practically no inducement for further labor, as the contractors already are fully staffed, whilst in other cases some men have set out on their own to build houses without engaging other labor. It had been found in the past that men from outside districts had come to New Plymouth on the strength of a building boom, only to be disappointed, as there was no work offering.