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Story: Inner-city living

Decrepit dwelling

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Decrepit dwelling

A woman and her children stand under a makeshift porch at the back of a run-down dwelling in Hobson St, Auckland, in the 1940s. In 1936 the first Labour government initiated a state rental housing scheme to relocate inner-city residents to the suburbs. But the rents were unaffordable for many people, and they stayed in town.

Using this item

Auckland Council Libraries − Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Reference: 580-827

Permission of Auckland City Libraries Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Philip Morrison and Ben Schrader, Inner-city living – City flats, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/23749/decrepit-dwelling (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Philip Morrison and Ben Schrader, published 6 April 2010.