§ Colonel Burtonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he can state the amounts it is considered will be required by local authorities for building and rehousing and whether he proposes that such sums shall be by block grant or a percentage; and, if the latter, what such percentage will be.
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§ Sir J. AndersonThe reply to the first part of the Question is "No, Sir." As regards the second part, under the Housing (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1944, as respects England and Wales and the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1944, subsidy on houses provided by local authorities and completed by 1st October, 1947, will not be confined, as it was under pre-war legislation, to houses provided for slum clearance or the removal of overcrowding, but will extend to houses provided for general needs. The rate of subsidy will not be fixed until the level of post-war building costs can be estimated with more confidence than is yet possible. Expenditure on other building may attract grant if the building is for the purpose of a grant aided service—e.g. education. Apart from specific subsidies and grants, any expenditure by local authorities affects in due course the total of the general Exchequer contribution to local revenues.