§ The Minister of Housing and Local Government (Mr. Duncan Sandys)With permission, Sir, I will make a statement about housing subsidies in England and Wales.
In October of last year, I informed the House that the Government had come to the conclusion that the housing subsidy for general needs should be abolished, but that, in order not to make the transition too abrupt, a reduced subsidy would be paid for a year or so.
We have recently reviewed the position, and have decided that the time has now come to bring this interim arrangement to an end. [An HON. MEMBER: "Paying for Suez."] Accordingly, I have today laid a draft Order to abolish the remainder of the general needs subsidy for future houses and flats.
I am, however, making an exception of one-bedroomed dwellings, the subsidies for which will be maintained as at the present level.
In doing so, I have particularly in mind the needs of elderly people and the desirability of facilitating movement from underoccupied houses. This does, I think, go some way towards meeting the points raised in Questions Nos. 36 and 56 by my hon. Friends the Members for Tyne-mouth (Dame Irene Ward) and East Grinstead (Mrs. Emmet).
The existing housing subsidies for slum clearance, overspill, expensive sites and other special purposes, will remain unchanged.
§ Mr. MitchisonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that this will speed the sharp fall that has been going on in council building, that it will make it quite impossible for many councils to carry out their duty of rehousing those who still 1618 stand in sore need of houses, and will be one more step in the Tory policy of substituting wealth for need as a test of whether a man gets a house?
§ Mr. SandysAs the hon. and learned Gentleman knows full well, there has, of course, been a considerable switch from house building for general needs to house building for slum clearance, and that was one of the main objectives which the House had in mind when it passed the Housing Subsidies Act earlier this Session. As for the decline to which the hon. and learned Member refers, there is as yet no evidence of any sharp decline in the overall house-building programme of local authorities.
§ Mr. Mitchisonrose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. I hope that we can leave this debate until we get the Order. We have a lot of very important business to do.
§ Dame Irene WardIn view of the fact that the Minister's statement was made on my Question. Mr. Speaker, would I not be in order in asking my right hon. Friend to accept my appreciation of what he has done?
§ Mr. MitchisonIs the right hon. Gentleman aware—
§ Dame Irene WardOn a point of order.
§ Mr. SpeakerApparently the hon. Lady the Member for Tynemouth (Dame Irene Ward) is still wanting to say something.
§ Dame Irene WardOn a point of order. Is it not usual for hon. Members who put a Question on the Order Paper in the normal course to have the opportunity of asking the first supplementary question? Why should the Front Bench opposite bounce my position?
§ Mr. SpeakerI hope that the hon. and learned Member for Kettering (Mr. Mitchison) will take that reproof to heart.
§ Mr. MitchisonIs the Minister aware that the total number of houses built for all purposes by local authorities has been falling sharply year by year and that it is now over 50,000 a year fewer than it 1619 was a couple of years ago? Is not that the result of Tory policy in relation to housing and local authorities?
§ Mr. SandysWe were referring to the reduction of the housing subsidies. All I can say is that from the returns so far received—and they are not yet complete —there is no evidence that the number of tenders—[HON. MEMBERS: "Ah."] Well, tenders mean future intentions—
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonIt might be for one house.
§ Mr. SandysIf the House is prepared to deal with the figures of houses actually built, then I can say that in the present year the total number of houses built in Great Britain will be once again, as near as does not matter, 300,000.
§ Mrs. L. Jegerrose—
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. An Order has been laid and it will be debated in due course.