§ 22. Mr. Gordon Campbellasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimate he has made as to when the housing shortage will be over in Scotland.
§ Mr. RossAt present there are roughly 50,000 more houses than households in Scotland as a whole, but many of the houses are not where they are needed and many more are of such poor quality that they must be replaced. The Government's vigorous house-building programme must be continued for this purpose, accompanied by the improvement of those existing houses which are sub-standard but need to be kept in use
§ Mr. CampbellThe Minister for Planning and Land made a statement recently that the national housing shortage should be over by 1973. Does the Secretary of State also believe that, and does it apply to Scotland?
§ Mr. RossThe hon. Gentleman has got wrong the statement of my right hon. Friend. Indeed, he made exactly the same qualifications about the overall position as I have done. I will not fix dates in respect of this. What we will do is build as many houses as possible and improve as many as possible and give the right emphasis at the right time. If the records which we have achieved within two years had been achieved by the hon. Member's party, we would have had no housing shortage in Scotland.
§ Mr. YoungerDoes the right hon. Gentleman not recall that the increase in house building since 1964 has nothing like kept pace with the increases in taxation during those years? Does not he feel a bit ashamed of that, since it is proof that we are not getting value for our money?
§ Mr. RossIf the hon. Gentleman asks around his constituency, where I have the good fortune to live and the misfortune to be badly represented—by someone 1361 who could put a supplementary question like that—he will appreciate that we are getting value for money in housing and that we are getting the housing, which we have been denied for so long in Scotland.