HC Deb 17 February 1971 vol 811 c448W
Mr. Boyden

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if his long-term forecasts agree with the annual report of the National Federation of Building Trade Employers, a copy of which is in his possession, that housebuilding as a proportion of the overall construction programme is likely to decline in the 1970's.

Mr. Amery

Long-term forecasts are necessarily tentative and I cannot at present predict the effect of the changes in housing policy which are now under consideration.

Mr. Boyden

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to arrest the decline in system-built housing in the public sector.

Mr. Amery

It is for local authorities themselves to decide whether or not to use industrialised building systems. I hope, however, that local authorities will take into account the advantages which system building can offer when considering new housing schemes.