§ 24. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many slum houses are expected to be demolished in the current calendar year; 499 and how many new houses are expected to be built.
Dr. Dickson MahonWhile my right hon. Friend cannot make precise forecasts, he has every hope that the 30 per cent. increase in the rate of slum clearance since 1964 will continue, and figures for new house-building so far this year show an improvement over 1966.
§ Mr. HamiltonCan my hon. Friend confirm that the slum clearance figures are an all-time record, but that nevertheless there are more slums in Scotland than was thought and that therefore the programme must be expedited? Can he say by what percentage there will be an increase in completions over the average of 27,000 in the three years 1961 to 1963?
Dr. MahonIn the three calendar years 1962, 1963 and 1964, 38,500 slums were dealt with. We hope that in the three calendar years 1965, 1966 and 1967 we will deal with another 45.000 slums. At the moment we have cleared or demolished 32,184, which means that we are 30 per cent. ahead of the previous three years rate. I cannot give precise figures for completions, as we do not have the private sector figures available till the end of this month, but I can say that 14,000 houses have been completed this year compared with 13,100 this time last year, and that 17,900 have been started as against 13,000 last year.