HC Deb 09 February 1948 vol 447 cc11-4
19. Mr. Thornton-Kemsley

asked the Minister of Works for what purpose his Department has recently taken a ten year lease of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth floors of the former Regis Hotel, Cork Street, London, W.1; whether he is aware that these floors were occupied before the war as flatlets, each comprising bedsitting-room, bathroom, kitchen and hall; and why they are being dismantled, and walls removed, at a time when there is an acute shortage of living accommodation in London.

Mr. Key

The accommodation is being acquired for use as Government offices. I am aware that it was formerly used as small flats and, with the approval of My right hon. Friend the Minister of Health, I have agreed with the Westminster City Council to release an equivalent area of residential accommodation more suitable for family occupation. The floors are being adapted for office purposes.

Mr. Thornton-Kemsley

Is it not a question, not only of the release of equivalent accommodation, but of the immense waste of labour in demolishing these flats in order to create room for offices for the right hon. Gentleman's Department?

Mr. Key

The flats are not being demolished; they are being adapted for the purpose.

Mr. Butcher

Are we to understand from the reply of the right hon. Gentleman that, as a result of consultations between his Department and the Department of his right hon. Friend, the housing accommodation has been in no way increased?

Mr. Key

It has been in no way diminished, but it is being made more appropriate for the families who are being housed.

Mr. Scollan

Are we to take it from that reply that what has happened is that one Department is now leaving the place it presently occupies, and has been transferred to another place, and that the taking over of the property and the waste of time and labour in altering it have not altered the situation?

Mr. Key

No. What is being done is the repair of war damaged premises for the purpose of providing office accommodation, in order to release more appropriate accommodation for family purposes.

Commander Noble

Can the Minister say which Department is to use these offices?

Mr. Key

Not yet.

Mr. Lennox-Boyd

Can the right hon. Gentleman give an assurance that if a private firm engaged in the export trade had tried to convert these dwellings into offices they would have been given the requisite permission?

Mr. Key

That is not a question which can be answered by me, but it could be answered by the Westminster City Council, whose permission I also had to obtain.

20. Mr. Thornton-Kemsley

asked the Minister of Works what was the consideration in respect of which his Department has secured a ten years lease of five floors of the former Regis Hotel, Cork Street, London, W.1, at a rental of only £10,000 a year for 35,647 square feet or thereby, which is equivalent to about 5s. a square foot, instead of at the normal West End rate for similar accommodation of 15s. to 20s. a square foot; what work is being done and at what cost; and what is the estimated cost of replacement at the end of the lease.

Mr. Key

There is no consideration other than the agreed rent. The work now being done provides for the reinstatement of war damage, alterations to windows and the conversion of bathrooms to lavatories, and some engineering services. The cost of making the premises suitable as offices will be defrayed by the landlord, with the exception of engineering services, which will be done by my Department. No charge, other than the cost of redecoration, will fall on my Department at the end of the lease. No estimate of this has been prepared.

Mr. Thornton-Kemsley

Can the right hon. Gentleman explain how he comes to rent these premises at such an extraordinarily low rent, which is equivalent to about 5s. per square foot, instead of the normal 20s., which is the price in this part of London?

Mr. Key

That is a compliment to the business capacity of my Department.

Squadron-Leader Fleming

Is it a fact that, if permission had been given, these five floors could have been reconditioned for living purposes?

Mr. Key

The Westminster City Council gave permission for this job to be done in order that they might obtain the release of what they considered, and what we consider, to be far more suitable accommodation for family purposes.

Captain John Crowder

Where are the premises referred to and who occupies them now?

Mr. Leslie Hale

Does not the right hon. Gentleman consider, in view of the information disclosed by this Question, that normal rents in the West End of London are from 15s. to 20s. per square foot, which is the equivalent of £400 a year for a small room, that that is a matter to which the Government should give some consideration?