§ Mr. Boardmanasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what are the estimated man-hours required for the building of a traditional brick-built house as compared with a factory-built house inclusive of the factory operation.
§ Mr. MellishSuch a comparison cannot be made. Detailed records of man-hours per dwelling are not kept except for a few experimental scheme. With some systems there is known to be, over the average traditional house, a very considerable saving in man-hours of site labour. But there are very wide fluctuations on either side of the average both for traditional houses and for indus-120W trialised houses, depending on such factors as the system of construction and the site.
§ Mr. Boardmanasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what are the comparative costs of a traditional brick-built house and a factory-built house; and what is the minimum number of standardised factory-built houses for a given site before the price becomes competitive with brick-built houses.
§ Mr. MellishTender prices, both for traditional and industrialised houses, vary considerably between regions. For England and Wales as a whole however, average costs per sq. ft. for houses and bungalows in local authorities and new towns tenders approved during the first six months of 1966 were as follows:
Traditional Industrialised s. d. s. d. 59 3½ 59 9½ It is not possible to assess what minimum number of industrialised houses is needed for a given site before the price becomes competitive with brick-built houses. Everything depends on the circumstances of the case and the type and degree of industrialisation.