36. Colonel NEWMANasked the Minister of Health whether he can give the all-in estimate of cost to erect a house under the Motional Housing Act, and, on 494 the assumption of 50,000 houses being built and let in a given year, the probable amount that the taxpayer will be called on to provide to supplement the difference between the economic and commercial rent?
§ Sir T. WALTERSThe average total cost of a house, including land, roads, sewers, and all other charges, may be estimated, on the basis of the tenders already approved, at about £800. There is not yet sufficient information available as to the fonts that can be obtained to prepare a precise estimate as to the loss that would fall upon the taxpayer, but assuming an average loss of £15 per house per annum, as estimated in the White Paper issued in April last, the total loss on 50,000 houses which would fall to be met by taxpayers and ratepayers would amount to £750,000 per annum.