§ LORD HYLTONasked Her Majesty's Government:
(i) How many hotel bedrooms arc now under construction in Inner London Boroughs; (ii) how many extra bedrooms could be built under existing planning permissions and whether they can estimate the number of new hotel jobs that would be created by the construction of (i) and (ii); and what provision is being made for housing such new workers, bearing in mind that many of them are unlikely to be able to afford to buy their own dwellings.
§ THE MINISTER WITHOUT PORT-FOLIO (LORD DRUMALBYN)Estimates compiled by the London Tourist Board suggest that 14,500 hotel bedrooms are under construction in the Inner London Area. Information about the number of extra bedrooms which could be built744WA under existing planning permissions is not readily available. It is estimated that the number of new jobs which could result from the 14,500 bedrooms under construction is approximately 12,500. Many hotel jobs are residential, and in these cases no housing problem will arise. Local authorities build for general housing needs. Some new hotel jobs may be filled by people already living in London. Hotel workers moving into London will stand to benefit, in common with others, from the efforts to ease the housing shortage in London and from the measures proposed in the Housing Finance Bill now before Parliament.