asked the Minister for the Environment the number of houses completed in 1985 (a) by private contractors and (b) by local authorities; and the effect that the imposition of the extra 5 per cent VAT on the construction industry had on house building in 1985.
Written Answers. - Housing Statistics.
26.
It is estimated that 17,000 private houses and 6,500 local authority houses were completed in 1985. It is not possible to estimate the precise effects of the increase in the building services rate of VAT on new housing output in 1985. It is likely, however, that any effects on output will have been largely offset by the increase in the new house grant, the effect of the £5,000 grant to certain local authority tenants and tenant purchasers to enable them to build or buy their own houses, and the continued high level of the local authority housing programme and the publicly funded house purchase loan schemes.