5. Lieut.-Colonel Dowerasked the Minister of Works whether his attention has been drawn to the many houses suffering from dry rot in the London area; and will he take steps to have such repairs carried out at once or give permission for such repairs to be carried out without licence provided notice is given.
§ Mr. TomlinsonMy Ministry are normally prepared to admit applications for licences to eliminate dry rot and licences are also granted freely by the local authorities who deal with such applications where the work costs less than £100. I should not be prepared to give permission for such repairs to be carried out without licence.
Lieut.-Colonel DowerIs my right hon. Friend aware that many houses may have to be pulled down unless this problem of dry rot is tackled ruthlessly; is he also aware that unless it is tackled when it first appears it spreads rapidly, and will he consider allowing this as emergency work?
§ Mr. TomlinsonThe difficulty is to differentiate between dry rot elimination and other repairs.