§ Mr. Roebuckasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what estimate he has made of the current cost of the average council house now 182W under construction; what is his estimate of the rent increase necessary following abolition of current subsidies, and his estimate of the equivalent subsidy on the basis that the cost of such a house were pooled with other existing houses; and what is his estimate of the increase required on the basis that all pooled subsidies were abolished.
§ Mr. GreenwoodI estimate that the average all-in cost in England and Wales of a council house now under construction is £4,340. The basic Exchequer subsidy on such a house completed in 1969–70 is equivalent to 60s. a week; if the rent of a new house costing £4,340 were to be set at the average level of standard rents for existing houses I estimate that the difference between that rent and the cost rent would be about £5 10s. a week. If all Exchequer subsidies were abolished I estimate that the cost in England would be equivalent to a rent increase of about 7s. a week to over 30s. a week, depending on the authority, if pooled over the whole of the authority's housing stock.