HC Deb 11 July 1973 vol 859 cc1503-5
6. Mr. Horam

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current annual percentage increase in the average price of new houses, on the latest published figures.

18. Mr. William Price

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment by what percentage new house prices have risen since June 1970.

The Under-Secretary of State for the Environment (Mr. Reginald Eyre)

The average price of a new house mortgaged with building societies in Great Britain increased by 87 per cent. between the second quarter of 1970 and the first quarter of 1973.

Mr. Horam

Is it not a sad comment on the poor state of the housing market that the most recent figures reported in the papers are regarded almost as welcome?

Mr. Eyre

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman referred to the recent Nation- wide figures, which show that the rate of increase in house prices is slowing down markedly. The Nationwide survey to which the hon. Gentleman referred shows that new house prices rose by 8 per cent. during the first six months of 1973, compared with 25 per cent. in the second half of 1972.

Mr. Idris Owen

Would my hon. Friend care to investigate the massive escalation in the price of construction timber coming from Scandinavia and the Canadian seaboard as this is adding considerably to the cost of housing? Further, will he again monitor the ever increasing price of land?

Mr. Eyre

My hon. Friend is right in referring to one of the world factors that have a substantial effect on prices here.

Mr. Price

Why does not the Minister admit that he has given a most appalling answer? Is he proud of the fact that, in percentage terms, he has even beaten the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food? To do so by 250 per cent. is an act of genius. Is it not clear from the way things are going that before long no one earning less than £100 a week will be able to buy a three-bedroom detached house? How are the Prime Minister and the motley crew on the Government Front Bench going to face young couples at the next General Election?

Mr. Eyre

The hon. Gentleman will remember the depressed state of the housing market in the Midlands in 1969 and 1970, when few people had sufficient confidence to enter into housing transactions. It is wrong to suggest that first-time purchasers and young couples are not holding their own. In the first quarter of 1973 building societies issued 37,000 new mortgages to people with incomes up to the average manual worker's wage. By way of comparison, in the first quarter of 1970 only 30,000 mortgages were issued to such people. Furthermore, the number of building society mortgages to those buying homes for the first time rose from 61,000 in 1970 to 79,000 over the same period. The comparable figure for borrowers under 25—which is also important—rose from 24,000 to 31,000.

Mr. Freeson

Is it not about time Ministers in this Department recognised that the constant quoting of percentage figures, and a whole series of them, for the last three years does nothing to alleviate the fact that housing construction today is lower than in 1963, while prices have continued to rise? Is not the Government's housing policy an absolute disaster for the country?

Mr. Eyre

The hon. Gentleman must not try to avoid facts that show that more and more people are able to enter into house purchase transactions and become owners, and have the confidence to do so. The hon. Gentleman must remember the terrible fall in the house purchase market in 1969 and 1970. We have brought the figure up from 165,000 in 1969 to about 240,000 this year.