Viscountess ASTORasked the Minister of Health (1) whether his Department have sanctioned at any time during the past six years one-roomed tenements in State-aided schemes; if so, how many, and where; and at what rents they are let;
1627W(2) whether his attention has been drawn to a reply given in Parliament by a representative of his Department, on 13th November, 1919, to the effect that one-roomed tenements would be sanctioned for the purpose of housing aged single persons or aged couples; and if that is still the policy of the Ministry?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINI have no record of any case in which one-room tenements have been approved by my Department during the past six years in connection with State-aided schemes. My attention has been drawn to the reply given in Parliament on the 13th November, 1919, but I would point out that the provisions of the subsidy schemes now in force, as regards minimum sizes of houses eligible for subsidy, would normally prohibit the granting of financial assistance for one-room tenements.