§ Mr. Adleyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer why he has excluded hotels and guest houses of less than 10 rooms from his new commitment to industrial building allowances for hotels.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonThe requirement that a hotel should have at least 10 letting bedrooms is one of several conditions intended to ensure that hotels qualifying for the proposed capital allowances provide certain minimum services and large enough to enable them to make a worthwhile contribution to the tourist industry. There was a similar size requirement in respect of hotel development grants under Part II of the Development of Tourism Act 1969; and the hon. Gentleman himself proposed that that definition should be adopted in the new clause he tabled to last year's Finance Bill on capital allowances for hotels. Establishments having at present fewer than 10 letting bedrooms are not excluded from the new relief since the cost of any extension or structural alterations increasing the number of letting bedrooms to 10 or more can qualify for the allowances.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what he estimates would be the extra cost involved in making industrial building allowances available not only for hotels of more than 10 bedrooms, as he proposes, but to all new hotels and guest houses which, by their 459W size, would be obliged to enforce the Fire Precautions Act 1972.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.