4. Mr. Edward M. Taylorasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what will be the effect of devaluation on the price of building materials for housing construction.
§ Mr. MellishThe direct effect of devaluation will be to increase the prices of imported materials by up to about 17 per cent. I estimate that this will increase the cost of building an average house by about 1½ per cent. The increase in the cost of building flats will be less and in some cases may be as low as ½per cent.
Mr. TaylorIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that house prices have rocketed since devaluation by about £200? As the building industry seems to have been singled out for harsh treatment by the Government. will the right hon. Gentleman discuss with his colleagues the possibility of relieving it from the Selective Employment Tax or abandoning the Transport Bill?
§ Mr. MellishI reject the allegation that the building industry has been singled out by the Government for harsh treatment. It is simply not true. If house prices have risen by as much as the hon. Gentleman suggests, not very much of it is due to devaluation.
§ Mr. Chichester-ClarkThe right hon. Gentleman has now gone up ½ per cent. on his last forecast of prices. What will be added by the removal of the regional employment premium, which the former Chancellor of the Exchequer said would have a valuable effect?
§ Mr. SpeakerOrder. That is another question.
§ Mr. MellishI am not changing the figure I originally gave. I said in November that the increase on the average house would be about 1½ per cent. and I have repeated that today. If the hon. Gentleman wants the figures on which this is based, I will send them to him.