§ Mr. Shurmerasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs, in view of the fact that there are over 40,000 building operatives unemployed and that the number of applicants on the housing 54W registers of English towns and cities are high and increasing, why the number of houses built in the first five months of 1958 was 17,000 less than in the corresponding period of 1957; and if he will give local authorities permission to build to their capacity.
§ Mr. H. BrookeI explained fully during the debate on the Address on 11th November last year the reasons why the Government considered that some restraint must be placed upon housing in the interests of the economy as a whole. These reasons are still valid today and explain why the number of houses completed this year is lower than last year, and also why the housebuilding programmes of local authorities must be related to an over-all programme and not simply to the capacity of each authority to build.