Housing

HC Deb 09 December 1947 vol 445 cc168-71W

87. Mr. Emrys Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has considered a copy of the resolution passed by Scottish delegates at the Housing and Town Planning Conference held at Harrogate; and what he proposes to do in the matter.

Mr. Woodburn

I have just received the resolution referred to and propose to arrange a meeting with the Scottish National Housing and Town Planning Council to discuss it.

88. Mr. Emrys Hughes

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is aware that in the village of Woodside, in Ayrshire, there are no amenities, that the houses are damp, insanitary and unfit for human habitation, that there is no inside water supply, that in one house there are six people living in one, room, including an invalid father and a child suffering from infantile paralysis, that no provision is being made for the re-housing of these villagers; and what steps he proposes to take.

Mr. Woodburn

I am informed by the County Council that all the houses in Woodside are scheduled for demolition and that it is the Council's intention to give the inhabitants the option of being re-housed at Tarbolton or in the proposed new town at Drongan as soon as accommodation becomes available.

93. Mr. Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many houses have been allocated to Ayrshire in the next two years for agricultural workers.

Mr. Woodburn

The numbers of houses allocated under the 1947–48, 1948–49 and 1949–50 programmes are 150, 74 and 164 respectively.

Sir W. Darling

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland if, to encourage savings, occupiers of local authority houses may be allowed to buy the houses which they are occupying on instalments.

Type.	Price.	Date of Basic Rates.	Remarks.
Weir "Quality" (first programme).	£1,160	14.8.45	Price excludes foundations and services.
Atholl (first programme).	£1,135	11.8.45	Price excludes fencing. Extra charge is made for delivery to sites more than 20 miles from Glasgow.
B.I.S.F.	£1,267 (500 houses per site)	1.2.46	Prices exclude cooker and tail drain. Additional sums of £5 to £7 10s. per house are payable to cover steel delivery charges to sites between 50 and 150 miles from Glasgow.
	£1,287 (200 houses per site)
	£1,307 (50 houses per site)
Cruden	£1,241 to £1,346 (blocks of two)	17.5.46	Prices, which exclude fencing, are graded for varying numbers of houses per site from 4 to 48.
	£1,223 to £1,328 (blocks of four)
Whitson-Fairhurst.	Type C42A	£1,172 10s.	31.3.46	Prices, which exclude gas and electric services and fencing, are for a minimum of 50 houses per site.
	Type C42B
	Type C44A (end)
	Type C44B (end)
	Type C44A(mid)	£1,132 10s.
	Type C44B(mid)
	TypeC52A	£1,292
	Type F44A	£1,094
Hilcon	Type A	£1,215	31.3.46	Prices, which exclude gas and electric services and fencing, are for a minimum of 50 houses per site.
	Type C	£1,182
	Type D	£1,310
	Type E	£1,126
Orlit	Type R/C/4	£1,220	31.5.46	Prices, which exclude gas and electric services, wash boilers, cookers and fencing are for a minimum of 50 houses per site within 50 miles of Edinburgh or Paisley.
	Type R/C/5	£1,340
	Type R/C1/4	£1,180
	Type R/C/4/5	£1,240
	Type F/1/4	£1,130
Stuart	Type 4C/2	£1,252	31.5.46	Prices, which exclude gas and electric services and fencing, are for a minimum of 100 houses per site.
	Type 4T/4	£1,235
	Type 4T/6	£1,230
	Type 4F/4	£1,140
Weir "Quality" (second programme).	£1,226	1.9.46	Price, which excludes gas and electric services and fencing, is for a minimum of 50 houses per site within 15 miles from Coatbridge. Additional charges, yet to be agreed, will be made to cover the extra cost of building in smaller numbers and in remoter areas.

Mr. Woodburn

In present circumstances I do not consider it desirable to depart from the policy that as many houses as possible should be kept available for letting by local authorities to those in greatest need.

Mr. McGovern

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the original cost of each type of prefabricated house; the present cost; and the amount due to increased labour costs and materials respectively.

Mr. Woodburn

A statement giving details of the original cost of each of the main types of prefabricated house follows. Particulars of the final costs of the houses will not be available until the completion of the contracts.

Following is the statement:

Type.	Price.	Date of Basic Rates.	Remarks.
Atholl (second programme).	£1,148 10s.	1.3.47	Price, which excludes gas and electric services and fencing, is for a minimum of 52 houses per site within 20 miles of Cardonald, Glasgow. Additional charges, yet to be agreed, will be made to meet the extra cost of building in smaller numbers and remoter areas.

The Weir First Programme is the subject of a contract between the Ministry of Works and the Weir Company which embodies a condition that the price will be reduced by the amount of any profit margin, as disclosed by cost investigation, exceeding what is agreed to be a fair and reasonable profit.

The arrangements for the B.I.S.F, and Cruden houses are in the nature of "central orders" by the Secretary of State, but contracts are entered into between the promoters and the housing authorities concerned. The agreed prices are subject to review after cost investigation.

In the other cases, the extent of the programme and the prices have been agreed between the Department of Health for Scotland and the promoters but local authorities sharing in the programme place orders and enter into contracts with the promoters in the usual way. The prices are not subject to costing.

In all cases, the prices are exclusive of abnormal underbuilding and other "special considerations" and are on a fluctuating basis as regards variations in rates of wages and prices of materials occurring after the "date of basic rates".

Swedish Timber Houses:

The timber sections and internal components are supplied by the. Ministry of Works and the works of construction are carried out by the local authorities.

The prices per house charged to local authorities for the timber sections and components are £575 (Types B and C) and £375 (Type D). The average cost per house of the works of construction carried out by local authorities is £586 (Types B and C) and £782 (Type D).