13. Mr. E. P. Smithasked the Minister of Works whether he is aware that a house in Station Road, Ashford, Kent, of which his Department has been a tenant since 1940 and which was reallocated by his Department to the Treasury to house a branch of the Inland Revenue, has been unoccupied for nearly two years; that it was taken over in September last by three homeless families who are now to be turned out into the street; and why this house has been retained for so long.
§ Mr. TomlinsonThe house in question, which was rented by this Department in March, 1941, was not vacated by the Inland Revenue Office until 1st May, 1946; the property was then re-allocated as a hostel for employees of the Kent War Agricultural Executive Committee and the necessary works of adaptation were virtually complete by September when the arrival of squatters delayed occupation. The house has been retained, with the full consent of the owner, to serve the public interest and will now provide living accommodation for 20 workers directly concerned with food production.