§ Mr. Pardoeasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what is the average building cost of a new council house in the latest year for which figures are available; what would be the economic rent without subsidies; what is the average rent paid by council house tenants in these new properties; and what 130W is the average annual value of the subsidy to council house tenants of new properties.
§ Mr. MellishThe average building cost, excluding land cost, of dwellings in tenders approved for local authorities and New Towns in England and Wales for the year ending 30th September, 1966 was £3,417. It would be misleading to give figures of economic rents since there is a wide variation between authorities in costs and in the methods by which the capital expenditure is financed. The average rent paid by tenants in new properties is not known. It is not possible to calculate the average annual value of the subsidy to tenants of new properties since it is general practice for all housing subsidies to be pooled within an authority's Housing Revenue Account and not attached to individual dwellings.