HC Deb 20 June 1967 vol 748 cc1406-7
28. Mr. Brooks

asked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what advice he proposes to give local authorities about the proportion of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroomed houses they construct to meet the needs of families on their waiting lists.

Mr. Mellish

Local authorities are well acquainted with the circumstances and needs of their areas and are best placed to take decisions about the proportion of new houses of different sizes which they should build. The Central Housing Advisory Committee is considering whether there are any general lessons to be drawn from the local authorities' experience.

Mr. Brooks

Does not my hon. Friend agree that there is need for local authorities to be more explicit and more consistent as to their criteria? Is not the composition of the nation's housing stock too important to be left solely to those whose judgments are often based on short-term financial considerations?

Mr. Mellish

The problem here is whether Whitehall is competent to tell local authorities what the need is in their own local areas. The answer is that it would be quite impossible for Whitehall or any central authority to say whether a local authority needed one-, two-, or three-bedroomed houses. They ought at least to know that.

Mr. Graham Page

Is not that reply a little complacent? Would it not assist local authorities to have a thorough investigation into this point and then advise them? Is it not true that in many areas the single-bedroomed dwellings are far too few to cope with the elderly people wanting dwellings and, at the other end of the scale, four bedrooms are not sufficient to cope with the large families? Does not this position need a thorough investigation and advice to local authorities?

Mr. Mellish

The figures we have show that single-bedroomed dwellings account for more than a quarter of the new houses built, while one-bedroomed and two-bedroomed dwellings account for 60 per cent. We do not deny that there are some local authorities where the assessments may be very bad, but one does not indict other local authorities because one among them is not very good.