§ Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAINasked the Minister of Health what is the number of houses estimated to be required per annum to accommodate the normal increase of the population in this country; what was the total number of houses completed in 1921; and what was the average number of new houses built per annum in the five years 1905–09?
§ Sir A. MONDOn the basis of the increase in population between 1911 and 1921, the number of houses of all classes estimated to be required annually to meet the normal increase in population, on a basis of 4½ persons per house, is 40,300. This average, of course, includes the exceptional years of the War. Particulars, showing the total number of houses completed in 1921, are not available, but the total number of working-class houses completed during the year under the State-aided housing schemes was 86,669, and, in addition, 2,645 dwellings were provided by the conversion of houses into flats and by the conversion of huts and hostels. It is not possible to ascertain the number of houses actually erected during the years mentioned in the last part of the question, but the average annual increase in the number of houses in the period from 1905 to 1909 was 102,706, of which 80,030 may be regarded as working-class houses.