STATE HOUSING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 April 1943, Page 4

STATE HOUSING

1,259 DWELLINGS BUILT LAST YEAR HOPES OF SOME INCREASED BUILDING. AS DEFENCE WORKS ARE COMPLETED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Although there is a lull in the building of houses due to the demand for constructional workers for defence purposes, as these taper off the job of building houses for the people will be accelerated.—This statement was made today by the Minister of Housing, Mr Semple. “We are planning a long way ahead,” said Mr Semple, “but unless we do, the housing conditions in this country will continue to be unsatisfactory.” He added that, in spite of the drain on manpower for public works, 1,259 houses had been built by the Department of Housing Construction during the year ended March 31 last, an average of 24 per week. These included 347 in Auckland and 162 in Wellington, where the need was greatest. Most of this work had been carried out spasmodically, while contractors were waiting for further defence contracts. Up to the present there were about 1.300 houses in various stages of completion awaiting the return of organisations from defence work. In order to make way for defence construction, numerous permits for private owners had been withheld, while labour from many others had been diverted to defence works. With relaxing control, as defence projects were completed, hundreds of houses would be erected. The present labour force engaged in the building industry, Mr Semple stated, was estimated at 8,000 men. When this force was transferred back to normal work, it would be possible to build 5,000 houses (private and State) per annum, as long as the war lasted, plus a programme of hospitals and essential factories, and to carry out necessary maintenance. However, a programme of this size was not only dependent on the labour available, but also upon the availability of such overseas materials as electric cable, glass, water pipe, etc. It was found that even where priorities were granted for this material, it had been crowded out by the urgent need for shipping space for war supplies. Mr Semple indicated that he had had reports prepared for a housing construction programme after the war, and was aiming at a minimum of 16,000 houses a year once he got into his stride.