§ 36. Colonel DAYasked the Minister of Health whether, seeing that the average contract price of non-parlour houses and parlour houses was respectively £392 and £432 in 1922, and is now £436 and £495, he proposes to take any action to control the price of material or the profit per house so that houses may be erected at a lower cost to the community and let at lower rents?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINAs the conditions which existed in 1922 were different from those of the present time, I do not consider that a fair comparison can be drawn between prices ruling then and now. I will send the hon. and gallant-Member a statement showing the average tender prices ruling for the past nine months, from which he will see that there has been little or no variation during that period. I keep a careful watch upon the trend of building prices, and in cases where the tenders appear to me to be unreasonably high I decline to sanction loans. At the moment I do not consider that any further action is warranted.