§ Mr. Geraint Howellsasked the Secretary of State for the Environment on what calculations and consultations his Department bases its assessment of the housing cost yardstick and its regional variations; what his Department assesses to be the difference in costs of house building between rural areas and urban areas; and how this assessment is arrived at.
§ Mr. ArmstrongThe levels of the housing cost yardstick and its regional variations are based primarily on movements and forecast trends in tender prices. Differences in cost which arise within regions and as between urban and rural areas are monitored by my Department, but such differences vary in nature over the country and there is no general identifiable pattern which could provide the basis for any meaningful assessment.