§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to the proportion of gross national product spent on housing in each member country of the OECD.
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§ Mr. ArmstrongThe following table sets out the readily available information. The answer is in terms of percentages of gross domestic product rather than gross national product because this is the basis on which the figures are calculated by the United Nations and are consequently readily available. It is not possible to make meaningful comparisons, however, because, apart from important differences in definition, there can be wide differences between countries in respect of the quality of housing stock and the imbalance between the quantity of housing available and the number of households requiring accommodation.
GROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATION IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP Australia 5.4 (1972)† Austria N.A. Belgium 5.1 (1973) Canada 5.5 (1973) Denmark 6.9 (1973)† Finland 8.3 (1974) France 7.4 (1974)* Germany, Federal Republic 6.4 (1973) Greece 9.2 (1973) Iceland 8.3 (1973) Ireland 5.1 (1972) Italy 7.1 (1974) Japan 8.8 (1973)‡ Luxembourg N.A. Netherlands 5.7 (1974)† Norway 5.2 (1974)† Portugal 3.5 (1973) Spain 3.1 (1972) Sweden 4.5 (1974)* Switzerland 6.6 (1969) Turkey 3.3 (1972) U.S.A. 4.3 (1973) United Kingdom 3.9 (1974) * United Nations Estimate. † New system of National Accounts. ‡ Percentage of Gross National Product.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has regarding the proportion of the housing stock of each of the member countries of the OECD which is estimated to be unfit.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe information is not readily available.