§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide his estimate of the current average construction cost for(a) a council house in each of his Department's regions and (b) a housing association house in each housing corporation region.
§ Mr. YeoThe average construction costs, based on accepted tenders, of council houses and bungalows—excluding flats—in each of the Department's regions for the year July 1990 to June 1991 were:
£ North 43,400 Yorkshire and Humberside 40,400 East Midlands 33,400 Eastern 43,300 Greater London 71,500 South East 47,900 South West 40,200 West Midlands 37,700 North West (including Cumbria) 54,900 The figures available for housing associations represent the total cost, including land acquisition and on-costs, and cover flats as well. They are not therefore directly comparable with those for council property. With that proviso, the average unit costs for housing association self-contained new build schemes approved under the Housing Corporation's approved development programme in the year April 1990 to March 1991 were: 363W
Average total unit cost £ Average public funded cost £ London and Home Counties (North East) 96,900 80,400 London and Home Counties (North West) 111,200 92,900 London and Home Counties (South) 89,700 73,500 West Region 62,900 49,400 East Midlands 54,900 41,100 West Midlands 54,600 39,500 North East 52,400 39,200 North West 54,000 40,700 Merseyside 55,300 42,300