§ 92. Mr. GRIFFITHSasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department as representing the First Commissioner of Works, whether he is aware that when the Office of Works houses in the Bulwark and Hardwicke districts were erected the rents were fixed in accordance with the prices then prevailing, and that no reduction in these rents has been made since, although the rents of Government houses in the Pennsylvania district were reduced when those houses were taken over by the Disposal Board; and whether he will take steps to secure similar reductions in the rents of the Bulwark and Hardwicke houses?
§ Captain KING (for The FIRST COMMISSIONER of WORKS)The rents payable in respect of the houses on the Bulwark and Hardwick Estates were fully inquired into by my Noble Friend personally on the spot in 1925, and reductions were in fact made in certain cases. The rents charged are considered reasonable, indeed many are too low. The houses on the Pennsylvania Estate are occupied by War Office employes as part of the terms of their employment, and the rents payable by them are not comparable with the rents payable by the private tenants at Bulwark and Hardwick. The answer to the last part, therefore, is in the negative.
§ 93. Mr. GRIFFITHSasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, as representing the First Commissioner of Works, whether he is aware that attempts are being made to secure the eviction of certain unemployed work men from houses in the Chepstow district owned by the Office of Works; that in one case the tenant of 20, Alexandra Road, Bulwark, was transferred from the Army in 1919 to work in the national shipyard, in 1919 was given a 10 years' guarantee under the Monmouth Ship building Company, was discharged in 1432 1921, and ever since has been employed only at rare intervals; that in another case the tenant of 4, Bulwark Avenue, Bulwark, a man with a wife and four children, was also assured of 10 years' employment in 1919, was discharged in 1921, and has had little employment since; and that in a third case the tenant of 16, Alexandra Road, Bulwark, a man with a wife and four children, has had very little employment since March, 1921; and whether, in view of the fact that these men were induced to settle in the Chepstow district under promise of regular employment and have been unable to earn the means to pay their rent, he will have the decision to secure their eviction reconsidered
§ Captain KINGThe arrears of rent due from the tenants in question amount to over £100 in each ease, and it has therefore been necessary to apply for eviction, to prevent further loss from falling upon the Exchequer. My Noble Friend regrets, therefore, that the answer to the last part must be in the negative. My Noble Friend has no information with regard to the 10 years' guarantee alleged to have been given by the Monmouth Shipbuilding Company.