From 1939 many goods required an import licence to come into the country. This 1949 licence application was accompanied by a letter from the manager of the company applying, Spedding Limited, explaining why plaster board was needed. Previous imports had been ‘snapped up by eager buyers’ in the South Island, where there was an ‘acute shortage’ of plasterboard. Spedding’s manager warned that ‘if the housing programme in the South Island is not to be gravely retarded, further early shipment’ of plasterboard was ‘essential’.