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applications on hand, and, of these, 15,278 were from eligible ex-servicemen. The -committees appointed to deal with this phase of the work have endeavoured, by a process •of investigation and classification of the various outstanding applications, to decide upon an order of priority which will do justice to all the families concerned. (b) Old Rental Houses. —ln addition to the housing units provided under the new •construction scheme, the Corporation has 1,069 houses under its control which have been erected prior to 1935 or otherwise acquired for housing purposes and which are let to tenants in a similar manner to that operating for the new houses. In pursuance of the Government's policy of making provision to the greatest possible degree for tenants of various types, the Corporation lias of recent years purchased on the open market older houses which are suitable for occupation by large families or have other features which specially fit the needs of other types of applicants—for example, the location ■of the house as regards the places of employment of members of the family. This scheme has also been extended to assist in the provision of housing for public servants on transfer. It had been found that many public servants on transfer were suffering a considerable hardship owing to their inability to find housing accommodation in the town to which they were transferred, and in co-operation with the Public Service Commission a Housing Bureau was established at the office of the Commission. The •Corporation is the channel through which this Bureau is able to provide assistance for the officers affected. In addition to purchasing properties suitable for inclusion in the scheme, there is also included in the arrangement a system of exchanging tenancies between officers transferred to or from the various towns throughout the Dominion. (c) Transit Housing. —As a means of providing temporary accommodation for families which have an urgent need for better housing but who are not immediately in line for the allocation of a permanent tenancy, local authorities have, with the assistance •of the Government, arranged for the establishment of transit housing camps in many places throughout the Dominion. In bringing these schemes into operation it has generally been the practice of the Government to provide from surplus buildings under the control of the War Assets Realization Board the bulk of the material necessary to ■construct temporary housing units. The local authority then provides the land on which the buildings are to be erected, and also undertakes the installation of the necessary water and drainage systems. Although the accommodation thus provided is not of a standard equal to that provided in the Government's permanent housing scheme, it has been the means of providing relief for quite a number of families which had been living under most unsatisfactory conditions. In the administration of the majority of these transit camps the local authority has worked in co-operation with the State Advances Corporation in selecting the tenants to be placed in the temporary quarters, -and the provision of permanent tenancies is then arranged in the order of priority to which the applicants would normally be entitled. There are cases, however, where the local authority has decided to take full responsibility for the selection of the tenants for the transit camps, and in these cases the provision of permanent tenancies is arranged on a different basis, under which the claims of recent arrivals are deferred until longstanding applications have been satisfied. On the whole, the scheme is working satisfactorily and has made a worth-while contribution in easing the housing situation. For those local authorities which require loan finance to enable them to proceed with a transit housing scheme, the Corporation is able to make advances from the Housing Account, with interest at 3 per cent., and the loans are repayable over appropriate periods as approved by the Local Government Loans Board. (d) Allocations to Ex-servicemen. —-With the approval of the Government, 50 per •cent, of all the permanent housing units which become available for letting are available for eligible ex-servicemen, and the selection of the latter for tenancies is the responsibility of the local Rehabilitation Committees in the various towns and cities where the State houses are available.

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