§ Mr. Chichester-Clarkasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what studies he has commissioned into the cost savings to be achieved in local authority industrialised housing contracts if the contractors were given maximum capacity operation over a minimum period of five years; who is carrying out those studies; when the report is expected; and whether it will be published.
§ Miss Harvie Andersonasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government (1) what studies he has commissioned into the use of plastic components and fixtures in renovating houses in twilight areas which are seriously lacking in standard services and amenities, but which are otherwise structurally sound; who is carrying out those studies; when the report is expected: and whether it will be published:
(2) what studies have been carried out by the National Building Agency into the number of viable housing systems on the basis of a production of 100,000 public sector houses produced by system methods in 1970; and what have been the findings of those studies.
§ Mr. MacColl:My right hon. Friend has not commissioned such studies. Owing to the multiplicity of factors involved, they could be expected to be expensive in scarce skills without leading to general conclusions on which positive action could be based.
§ Mr. Chichester-Clarkasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government (1) what advice the National Building Agency gives to firms wishing to invest in equipment and plant for industrialised building concerning the period over which their capital expenditure should be fully amortised;
491W(2) what studies have been carried out by the National Building Agency into the number of houses which an industrialised building firm will require to build over the period of amortisation of its plant and capital equipment in order to break even; and what have been the findings of those studies.
§ Mr. MacColl:Studies carried out by the Agency for individual firms show that the number of dwellings required to be built in order to break even may range from a few hundred to several thousands per year over a number of years according to the techniques and materials used. Decisions about the rate of amortisation of capital are a matter for the firms concerned in the light of the Agency's advice about the likely break-even point.
§ Mr. Chichester-Clarkasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether it is the practice for the National Building Agency to recommend prospective building owners a limited choice of systems selected from those sponsors with production capacity currently available; whether that is the only criterion employed in making such a choice; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacColl:The firms recommended are selected for their suitability for the project. Production capacity is one of the many criteria taken into account.
§ Mr. Chichester-Clarkasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what proportion of public sector houses in Great Britain built by industrialized
PROPORTIONS OF ALL INDUSTRIALLY BUILT DWELLINGS APPROVED FOR LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND NEW TOWNS IN ENGLAND AND WALES ACCORDING TO TYPES OF SYSTEM USED Flats 2–4 storeys Flats 5 storeys and over Houses Type of System 1966 1.1.67 to30.9.67 1966 1.1.67 to30.9.67 1966 1.1.67 to30.9.67 Heavy and dry (i.e., large panel) … 18.1 20.9 50.1 41.7 78.9 74.2 Prefabricated box unit … .8 .8 — — .9 — Rationalised traditional in situconcrete … 33.8 30.1 28.5 35.8 16.4 20.5 Lightweight concrete … 2.5 .3 .7 — — —
§ Miss Harvie Andersonasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what studies he has commissioned into the scope for industrialised housing in the third generation of new towns; who is carrying out those studies; when
492Wmethods in 1966 were heavy and dry systems for medium and high rise dwellings; and what were the equivalent figures at the latest convenient date.
§ Miss Harvie Andersonasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what proportion of public sector houses in Great Britain, built by industrialised methods in 1966, was the box units system of total prefabrication in a factory for low and medium rise housing; and what were the equivalent figures at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government (1) what proportion of public sector houses in Great Britain built by industrialised methods in 1966 was of the rationalised traditional in situ concrete type for medium and high rise dwellings; and what were the equivalent figures at the latest convenient date;
(2) what proportion of public sector houses in Great Britain built by industrialised methods in 1966 was lightweight concrete systems for low and medium rise dwellings; and what were the equivalent figures at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. MacColl:This information is not available for dwellings completed. For dwellings approved for local authorities and New Towns in England and Wales the proportions, which are subject to certain difficulties of classification, are set out in the table below. I regret that for Scotland separate figures are not available for low, medium and high rise dwellings.the report is expected; and whether it will be published.
§ Mr. MacColl:My right hon. Friend has not commissioned any special study but he has stressed to all New Town 493W Development Corporations the importance of using industrialised building methods.
§ Miss Harvie Andersonasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what discussions he has had with the Development Corporation of the proposed Milton Keynes New Town about the setting up of factories there for the production of industrialised systems and components; what estimate he has made of the likely initial capital investment required for such factories; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacColl:No such discussions have been held. The establishment of factories for making industrialised building systems is a matter for the sponsors of the systems, and their cost would depend very much on the nature of the particular product.
§ Miss Harvie Andersonasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what estimate he has made of savings in construction time, expressed as man hours per unit, between public sector houses built by industrialised and by traditional methods, giving figures for houses, low, medium and high rise flats, respectively.
§ Mr. MacColl:No meaningful detailed estimate is possible because for the same type of dwelling man hours vary widely with such factors as the method of construction, the complexity of the design, the size of the contract, the nature of the site and the efficiency of the contractor.
§ Miss Harvie Andersonasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many approvals for forward orders of public sector housing in 1965 and 1966 were for precast rather than in situ systems; and what was the equivalent figure at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. MacColl:Below are numbers of dwellings in tenders approved for public authorities in Great Britain.
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1st January to 30th September, 1965 1966 1967 Precast concrete 18,767 35,089 22,752 In situ concrete 24,932 23,219 17,753
§ Miss Harvie Andersonasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what proportion of public sector houses in Great Britain built by industrialised methods in 1966 was of the structural frame systems of precast reinforced or pre-stressed concrete, steel or timber; and what were the equivalent figures at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what proportion of public sector houses in Great Britain built by industrialised methods in 1966 was of the low bearing panel type system; and what were the equivalent figures at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. MacColl:The proportions for England and Wales were as shown below. I regret that details of dwellings completed in Scotland are not available.
Type of System Proportion completed in 1966 Proportion completed in nine months ended 30th September, 1967 Per cent. Per cent. Structural frame 7.4 9.2 Loadbcaring panel 36.3 35.0
§ Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what estimate he has made of financial savings per square foot of system built methods in public sector houses compared with traditional construction, giving figures for houses, low rise, medium and high rise flats, respectively.
§ Mr. MacColl:The latest available figures of average cost per square foot of industrialised and traditional building for houses and for flats of different heights are given in Table 20 of "Housing Statistics, Great Britain, No. 7", which was published in October, 1967.
§ Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government how many houses were completed in Great Britain in the private sector in 1966 by industrialised building methods within the meaning of paragraph 3 of Circular 76/65; and what were the equivalent figures at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. MacColl:I regret that this information is not available.
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§ Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what estimate he has made of the effects on the precast concrete system built public housing programme in Great Britain in 1968, in view of the proposed abolition of the selective employment premium; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacColl:As there are so many factors affecting the price and competitive position of precast concrete systems, the abolititon of premiums is unlikely to affect more than marginally the number of dwellings built by public authorities in such systems.
§ Mr. Costainasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government (1) when the National Building Agency expects to issue an appraisal certificate for a high rise industrialised system in England and Wales;
(2) how many industrialised systems are currently registered with the National Building Agency; how many were initially registered when the Agency first accepted registration; how many appraisal certificates have been granted; and how many of these are for low rise systems.
§ Mr. MacColl:Although particulars of over 200 systems have been filed with the Agency, there is no formal process of registration. In England and Wales, for low-rise systems, 76 appraisal certificates have been issued, of which 51 are still valid. There is no present intention to issue appraisal certificates for high-rise systems. In Scotland, 25 appraisal certificates have been issued, of which 8 were for high-rise systems. With the exception of 2 certificates for low-rise systems, all are still valid.
§ Mr. Chichester-Clarkasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what advice he is tendering to local authorities in regard to guarantees required for private industrialised builders engaged in local housing contracts; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacColl:Circular 79/67 advises local authorities that, where a contractor is doing design work and the R.I.B.A. standard form of contract does not fully cover the circumstances, a separate warranty or indemnity, may be required from him, for example for any loss arising 496W from failure to design the building in accordance with the relevant structural codes of practice.