HC Deb 14 July 1976 vol 915 cc626-30
2. Mr. Skinner

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is satisfied with the latest house building figures.

The Minister for Housing and Construction (Mr. Reginald Freeson)

Public sector dwellings started in Great Britain up to the end of May this year are 22 per cent. up on the same period of 1975. Completions were up by 9 per cent. Private sector starts are up 19 per cent. and completions up 1 per cent. These figures show that good progress is being made.

Mr. Skinner

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the very latest statistics, compared with the previous quarter's, show that a further decline is taking place compared with the figures that he has given? Is that not as a result of insufficient money being allocated to the public sector to assist with house building? Will he resist to the utmost any further public expenditure cuts, as they affect the Department, in order to ensure that sufficient houses will be built and that no more building workers will be thrown on the dole queue as a result of any of these cuts taking place?

Mr. Freeson

I am afraid that my hon. Friend is in error in respect of the first few points he made. The figures for the last quarter show a decline over the preceding quarter, which was remarkable because of good weather conditions during the winter, but they are, nevertheless, much higher than last year. There is no question of there having been any reduction in resources being made available for new buildings. As for the future, I cannot guarantee that there will be a continued expansion at the rate there has been so far. But my answer dealt with the position that we have had to date, in which house building is still running at a much higher level than it was last year and, indeed, two or three years ago.

Mr. Rossi

The Minister chooses last year for the purpose of his comparison but does he not agree that that shows that the figures are deplorable compared with 1972–73? Why is he complacent about this 10 per cent. fall in council house starts in the three months preceding, and not subsequent to, the May elections? Will he comment upon the projection recently made by the Building Material Producers Association, which considers that this steady decline will continue right through to 1979?

Mr. Freeson

On the last point, I met representatives of the Building Material Producers Association within a few days of the Press release to which the hon. Gentleman refers. They were making reference to the general position with regard to the construction industry and not on house building as such.

Mr. Rossi

indicated dissent.

Mr. Freeson

I assure the hon. Gentleman that if he will consult with the representatives of the Association he will find that, as far as house building is concerned, they went away perfectly satisfied with the information I gave them. The hon. Gentleman will know from his experience that quarterly figures vary throughout the year, and from one year to another. The important thing is the total throughout the whole of the year. The position is that this year, notwithstanding the quarterly variations, we are running at a much higher rate of house building activity than we were a year ago, or the year before that. Certainly the hon. Gentleman would find the figures much higher than the figures we inherited from the previous Administration.

5. Mr. Bowden

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how the level of private house starts at the latest available date compares with that in 1973.

Mr. Freeson

Private housing starts in 1972 were 227,000; in 1973, 215,000; in 1974, 105,000; in 1975, 148,000; and in the first five months of this year 60,600. The private enterprise housing inquiry in March showed that builders expect to start 160,000 houses in 1976.

Mr. Bowden

Will the Minister explain how he thinks there will ever be any chance of getting back to the 1973 levels while the Government persist with legislation like the Community Land Act and with the excessive rates of development land tax? Will he also renounce categorically the Labour Party statement this year about nationalisation of the major building companies, which would set back the chances of thousands of people owning their own homes?

Mr. Freeson

I do not know about the statement that the hon. Gentleman mentioned. I shall have to check up and read it and comment on it then. I would have expected at least a welcome for my statement that there had been a turn-round in house building from the disastrous slump which we inherited in 1974.

Mr. George Rodgers

Would my right hon. Friend agree that there is a general availability of houses for sale throughout the country, that the real shortage is in houses to let and that in every local authority which is responsible in this sector there is a huge waiting list? Should not attention be focused on those matters?

Mr. Freeson

The situation varies considerably from one area to another. In some localities there is a disproportionate shortage of rented accommodation as against owner-occupied, and the position is reversed elsewhere. The Government are and always have been opposed to indiscriminate policies of one kind or another. We need to consider the local housing market and needs and to provide via local authorities and by other means for meeting the needs which are established as a matter of objective fact and analysis.

24. Mr. Joseph Dean

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to ensure that the increased momentum in the council house building programme is maintained.

Mr. Freeson

The improved level of new house building by local authorities and housing associations is being sustained by the financial support given under our interim Housing Rents and Subsidies Act 1975 and under the Housing Act 1974. Other measures have been taken to encourage councils and associations to maintain, modernise and convert existing houses and to widen the range of tenures.

Further action will he taken in the light of our housing finance review.

Mr. Dean

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer, but in view of answers by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, in which he said that the Government could give no guarantee about the level of financial support for new council house building under the impending cuts, will my hon. Friend restate the Government's policy that housing will remain the priority? My hon. Friend said that the level of council house building was being maintained. Is he aware that the city held up by the Opposition during the local government debate as a wonderful example of Conservative control—I am talking about Leeds, the city I represent—

Mr. Speaker

Order. This is not fair. I could have called another Question if the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question had not gone on for so long. Will he come to a conclusion now?

Mr. Dean

Leeds is cutting its building programme though it has an ever-growing waiting list. Can my hon. Friend do anything about that?

Mr. Freeson

The latest information I have about Leeds—and this is true of other local authorities—is that there have been no proopsals to cut house building programmes. But if my hon. Friend has further information that he would care to give me, I shall be glad to consider it.

As to the future of house building, I have said that we have had a major expansion in the past two years. There can be no guarantee of further expansion. At this stage I cannot add to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State earlier.