HC Deb 18 March 1964 vol 691 cc1373-4
28. Mr. Milan

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many slum houses were demolished or closed in Scotland in the year 1963; what is his estimate of the total stock of pre-1880 houses in Scotland; and what percentage the first figure represents of the second.

Mr. G. Campbell

A provisional figure of slum houses demolished or closed in 1963 is 11,400. The best estimate available of the stock of pre-1880 houses is of the order of 500,000. On that basis the percentage is approximately 2¼.

Mr. Milan

As most of the pre-1880 houses are either slums, near-slums, or at least lacking in modern amenities, is it not clear from those figures that the present slum clearance programme is completely inadequate? What are the Government doing to speed it up?

Mr. Campbell

All the pre-1880 houses are not beyond hope. I am not trying to minimise the problem, and my right hon. Friend is giving every encouragement to the efforts of local authorities to tackle it by closure, demolition, repair, or improvement; but quite a number of the houses are capable of improvement.

29. Mr. Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will state the annual average number of houses built in Scotland in each of the four-year periods, 1952 to 1955, 1956 to 1959, and 1960 to 1953.

Mr. G. Campbell

The figures are 35,854, 30,950, and 27,700 respectively.

Mr. Ross

Do not the Government appreciate that those figures speak for themselves?

Mr. Campbell

No, Sir. The reduction since 1955 has been due largely to the increasing emphasis which local authorities have been placing on redevelopment which is more difficult than building on open sites, which had previously been the case. These difficulties are being overcome. The big increase in housing starts during the past year will result in increases in completion, and there is every prospect of 34,000 new houses in 1964, and more in 1965.

Mr. Ross

In view of the figures which the hon. Gentleman has just given about the number of slum houses in Scotland—500,000 built before 1880—how can he justify or explain away this continued failure and decline of house building in Scotland?

Mr. Campbell

I think the hon. Gentleman known that it is because the emphasis has been on development and slum clearance. I might add that the average figure for the comparable period 1948–51, which the hon. Gentleman has not mentioned, was considerably lower at 23,949.