§ 91. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the Minister of Public Building and Works what progress is being made to bring the cost of system building per square foot down to the cost per square foot for traditional building methods; and if he will publish the comparative figures for each of the last six quarters.
§ Mr. PrenticeComparisons of unit costs are not very meaningful because these vary widely according to the systems used, the location and type of site, the size of contract and the efficiency of individual builders. However, current trends suggest that industrialised building is becoming increasingly competitive. In public sector housing, costs between 1964 and 1965 rose by about 6.6 per cent. for traditional building but only by about 2.1 per cent. for industrialised building. The Government is encouraging these trends by the creation of a larger and more continuous demand for industrialised methods of all kinds.