§ 64. Mr. LORDENasked the Minister of Health if he is prepared to give the same terms to others who contract to build houses as to building guilds, that is, 6 per cent. for overhead charges in addition to a profit of £40 per house?
§ Dr. ADDISONThe 6 per cent. referred to covers plant and all overhead charges, salaries of buyers, head office expenses, and salaries of supervising staff not wholly employed on the site of the individual scheme. Among the conditions is one that any surplus out of the £40 per house and the 6 per cent. shall be devoted to improvement of the service of the guild. It would not appear, therefore, that the terms would be suitable for contracts with builders.
§ 65. Mr. LORDENasked the Minister of Health how many contracts have been signed for housing, also the number of houses contracted for up to the 31st May last; how many contracts has Contract Form No. 3 been used for; and what number of houses are being built under this form of contract?
§ Dr. ADDISONComplete information is not available for the period up to the 31st May, but up to the beginning of May 558 local authorities and public utility societies had signed contracts in regard to 1,144 housing schemes, comprising approximately 51,000 houses. Negotiations had on the 31st May been completed or were approaching completion for 25 contracts, relating to approximately 9,000 houses, based on Contract Form No. 3.