HC Deb 29 March 1972 vol 834 cc415-6
17. Mr. Willey

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will now list the further initiatives taken by the Government about land prices.

Mr. Graham Page

I would refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 8th March.

The preliminary assessment of results of the measures already taken warrants an intensification of those measures.—[Vol. 832, c. 1429–31.]

Mr. Willey

Is the Minister aware that according to the building societies land costs now amount to over 30 per cent. of the price of houses and that over the last year the price of houses increased by an all-time record of 21 per cent.? Is he further aware that the National Federation of Master Builders is alleging that this may well prejudice the building programme? In view of this, will the Minister take emergency action now?

Mr. Page

The 30 per cent. to which the right hon. Gentleman refers relates to land in the South East. Over the country as a whole it is something less than 20 per cent. I appreciate that in the South East great problems arise. What is emerging from the measures we have taken, from the working parties of local authorities and developers, is that the Government have for the first time laid down areas where development is welcome in the South East regional strategy. Not many developers seem to have read or realised the import of that: there is land available for development in those major and medium areas.

Mr. Evelyn King

Would my hon. Friend recognise none the less that it is not only a grave problem but the gravest facing his Department? Will he accept that the release of land is certainly a major factor and that local authorities cannot regard this as a purely local problem? It is a national problem. Will he ensure above all—this would help a lot—that statistics are made available about how much land is being released?

Mr. Page

It is not only how much land is being released for planning but how much is coming forward for actual building. This is what we are investigating and I can assure my hon. Friend that it is treated as a national and not a local matter.

Mr. John Silkin

Does the hon. Gentleman recall that his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, in answer to a Question from my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-upon-Tyne, West (Mr. Bob Brown) on 22nd July, 1970, gave as his reason for abolishing betterment levy the fact that it would bring down the price of land? This has not happened. On the contrary the price of land has risen to a figure never before known. Does not this mean not only that the policy must be intensified but that it must be radically altered and the price of land brought under control?

Mr. Page

I am not sure whether the right hon. Gentleman is proposing that we should bring back betterment levy. I can assure him that we will not do that. We are taking steps to see that land is made available for building not only through planning but from those who are holding on to it.