circumstances, a man has an inducement to stay at home; and in some of the slums and wretched tenements in which men are now forced to exist with their wives and families, on account of the high rents, things are anything but comfortable.” Every worker’s home has a bathroom, and proper means of ventilation. These dwellings are disposed of by the Government on a weekly tenancy or by lease for 50 years, with the right of renewal. Every applicant for the right to occupy a dwelling has to satisfy the Land Board that he or she is a worker—that is, “a person, male or female, who is employed in work of any kind or in manual labour, and who, at the time of application, is not in receipt of more than £156 a year, and is landless.” For weekly tenants the rent is fixed at the rate of 5 per cent. on the capital value of the dwelling, in addition to the insurance and rates. The payments on account of the leases are on the same basis, but they are made in monthly instalments. The lessee may acquire the freehold, but this is hedged round with several conditions. He can pay the capital value in cash any time after 25 years from the date of the lease; he can make monthly payments extending over 32 years, at the rate of 8 per cent. on the capital value, or monthly payments extending over 41 years at the rate of 6½ per cent.; or he can proceed by insuring his life in the Government Life Insurance Office for the amount of the value of the dwelling and for either 25 or 32 years, the property passing to him when the insurance falls due.
In 1895 Sir John McKenzie had an Act passed to secure homes for the people, and to prevent these homes from being mortgaged or sold for debt or other reasons. It preserves homes for men and their families who might otherwise find that through adverse circumstances they had lost the property they once possessed. A home up to £1500 in value may be registered under the Act. As soon as that is done the property becomes the home of the family during the life-time of the man or woman who registers it, and it can be neither mortgaged nor leased. The idea was not a new one even twelve years ago. It has been successfully applied in the United States, Australia, and other countries, and its success has also been very marked in New Zealand.
