§ Mr. ADAMSasked the Minister of Health the number of new houses in the United Kingdom specified in the Returns made for 1919; the number erected since that year; and the number required to be erected to remove the shortage?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINAccording to the survey made by local authorities in England and Wales at the end of 1919, the gross estimate of shortage of working-class houses due to overcrowding was 506,700. But in view of the difficulty of obtaining reliable estimates the hon. Member must not take it that I regard this as representing the present effective demand for houses. The number of houses completed under the State-aided schemes is 198,183.
§ Mr. ADAMSasked the Minister of Health what was the greatest number of houses erected in any one year since 1918; the number of the type to which the subsidy in the present Housing Bill would apply erected in any year; and the percentage of unemployed in the building trades in that year?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINThe greatest number of houses completed in any one year since 1918 under the State assisted schemes was 88,964 in the year 1922, and the mean percentage of unemployed in the building trades in Great Britain in that year was 16.9. It should, however, be noted that a great part of the work upon these houses was actually performed in the year 1921.