§ Mr. A. Lewisasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs whether he is aware that, in the case of Hornchurch, the figure for completed houses has fallen from 257 in 1947 to 14 in 1963; whether he will ascertain the reasons for this; and what further help he will give to Hornchurch Council to enable them to increase their house building.
§ Mr. CorfieldThe building record of the local authority reflects its success in dealing with slum clearance and other priority categories on which its housing 105W effort has been concentrated. It is misleading to compare figures for two arbitrarily selected years and to ignore private enterprise building. Up to the end of 1963, the total number of new dwellings provided in Hornchurch since the war was 15,118, of which 12,024 were built by private enterprise.
My right hon. Friend has already made it clear that he will give as much encouragement as he can to the building of more accommodation for Londoners.