§ 76. Mr. WHITEasked the Minister of Health if he has received any further information on the price of baths, as a result of the inquiries mentioned by the Inter-Departmental Committee on the price of building materials in their report of 16th December, 1933?
§ The PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY to the MINISTRY of HEALTH (Mr. Shakespeare)I would refer the hon. Member to my reply yesterday to the question of the hon. Member for North Lanark (Mr. Anstruther Gray) on the same subject.
§ 77. Mr. STOURTONasked the Minister of Health if the information at the disposal of the Ministry indicates a tendency towards a rise in building costs?
§ Mr. SHAKESPEAREI am sending my hon. Friend a copy of the recent report of the Chairman of the Inter-Departmental Committee appointed to survey the prices of building materials from which he will see that there have been increases in prices of certain building materials. For the present my right hon. Friend sees no reason to anticipate any general rise in prices.
§ Mr. STOURTONIs the hon. Gentleman aware that a serious rise in building costs would at once restrict enterprise; and will he give the House an assurance that such a situation will be dealt with by the Government should it arise?
§ Mr. SHAKESPEAREWe are watching the position very closely. What matters the most is the steady fall in the the contract prices of non-parlour houses which have fallen from £317, the figure of 15 months ago, to about £297, the figure in the last quarter.
§ Mr. THORNEIs the hon. Gentleman watching prices of land upon those estates which are being developed?