§ Major PRESCOTTasked the Minister of Health if his attention has been called to the Registrar-General's recent Report for 1919, which expresses the opinion that a net addition of 140,000 houses for 1911–19 would suffice; the number of subsidised houses for which contracts have been let by local authorities and public utility societies; how many of these are finished and under construction; how many subsidised houses are being erected by the guild system, the Office of Works, the Board of Agriculture, and private builders, and the number for which certificates of habitation have been issued since the new Housing Department of the Ministry was formed?
§ Dr. ADDISONThe Report of the Registrar-General neither states nor suggests that the housing requirements could be satisfied by the erection of 140,000 houses. It states that to provide for the estimated increase of population in the period from 1911 to June, 1919, a net addition of 140,000 houses would be required, at the rate of five persons per house. This was stated to be apart from the replacement of defective houses, and was based upon the 1911 average of968W numbers of persons per house, which average represented 2,000,000 persons living under over-crowded conditions, whilst there were about 178,876 houses unfit for habitation. Contracts have been let by local authorities and public utility societies for 148,566 houses. Of this number 1,595 will be erected by guilds, 5,531 by the Office of Works, 10,405 by local authorities by direct labour, and 131,035 by builders. The total number of houses completed by local authorities on the 1st February was 17,505, and an additional 60,256 were under construction. In addition, preliminary approval has been given to the erection of 32,075 houses by private builders under the subsidy scheme. Of these 9,673 have been completed, making a total of 27,178 houses completed. I understand that the Ministry of Agriculture have passed plans and tenders for 1,200 houses for erection by county councils under the provisions of the Land Settlement (Facilities) Act, but I have no information as to the number completed.