§ Sir W. Darlingasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that the house building programme for Scottish ex-Service men is being jeopardised by development charge, and if he has any 287W proposals under consideration to remove this impediment in the housing of ex-Service men.
Mr. McNeilI do not consider that the development charge provisions of the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act, 1947, are hindering the erection of houses. If the hon. Member has in mind the case of an ex-Service men's charitable organisation, there is no exemption under the Act for the erection of houses by a charitable body on land acquired after 1st July, 1948, and I see no grounds for proposing such an exemption.
Year Total number of applications Applications made by Granted Outstanding * Builders Individuals Builders Individuals Builders Individuals 1947 … 168 55 113 39 79 16 34 1948 … 137 76 61 2 2 74 59 1949 … 96 27 69 2 16 25 53 1950 (to date) … 68 — 68 — 20 — 48 * NOTE.—In addition, applications by builders for the erection of 330 houses are outstanding from 1946, and at their request are still being treated as "live."