aug 1, 1950 - State House sales - starts
Description:
Legislation (later incorporated in section 16 the Housing Act 1955) gave the State Advances Corporation the authority to sell state housing land (which could include individual dwellings) with wide discretion as to the terms and conditions of sale.
This was based on its conviction that private home ownership provided greater personal freedom than renting. In wanting state tenants to experience the benefits of owning their own home, the government offered purchasers very generous terms: 5 percent deposit, a 3 percent mortgage rate, with a maximum purchase period of 40 years. The first sale was completed in December 1950 (Karori, Wellington). By 1957 13,300 houses had been sold (about 30% of the saleable stock). In 1957, the newly elected labour Government banned the promotion of state house sales. Sales resumed in the 1960s. Between 1957 and 1975 about 27,000 state houses were sold, with the great majority sold to sitting tenants and a smaller number to Local Authorities and employers for employee housing.
From 1958, with the capitalisation of Family Benefit, it was possible for a tenant to buy a state house without any initial outlay of capital.
A restriction on the scheme was that dwellings that were sold had to have a separate title. This meant that most flats and multi-unit dwellings remained in state ownership.
Source: https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/about-msd/history/social-assistance-chronology-programme-history.html
Added to timeline:
A chronology of Māori housing in Tāmaki Makaurau - Key events
This timeline charts the changing institutional framework an...
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