§ 28. Mr. McInnesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, for the purposes of comparison, he will state as on the latest convenient date, the annual charges debited to the housing revenue account of a local authority in respect of a four-apartment house built and provided with money borrowed from the Public Works Loan Board for 60 years, and similar loan charges in respect of a similar house as on the corresponding date in each year since, and including, 1951.
§ Mr. J. N. BrowneSince the Answer contains a number of figures, I shall, with permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Mr. McInnesIs the Joint Under-Secretary aware that I assume that the figures he will circulate in the OFFICIAL REPORT will reveal that the annual cost has doubled since 1951? Will he now agree that this is perhaps the main element which has caused the chaotic condition of local-government finance?
§ Mr. BrowneThe cost has not quite doubled, and I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman. If local authorities were to pool their housing charges and repayments and charge reasonable rents, they would find that today's high cost is no deterrent to their finances.
§ Following are the figures:
| FOUR-APARTMENT COUNCIL HOUSE | ||||||
| Year | Interest and repayment charges on construction, land, services and fees | |||||
| £ | s. | d. | ||||
| 1951 | … | … | … | 54 | 19 | 2 |
| 1952 | … | … | … | 75 | 14 | 5 |
| 1953 | … | … | … | 84 | 4 | 10 |
| 1954 | … | … | … | 76 | 5 | 0 |
| 1955 | … | … | … | 77 | 6 | 2 |
| 1956 | … | … | … | 98 | 4 | 6 |
| 1957 | … | … | … | 101 | 13 | 3 |
§ Note.—The table above is based upon the average tender costs for each year, including the average costs for land, services and fees.