§ 68. Mr. CHARLES EDWARDSasked the Minister of Health how many authorities, outside the three who were provided with moneys from the Loan Commissioners, have succeeded in securing loans to enable them to commence with their housing schemes; whether he has received any complaints re the difficulty in securing money from private sources, chiefly owing to the pressure and inducements to put money into the Government loans just issued; and what steps the Government propose to take to enable the work to proceed?
§ Commander EYRES-MONSELL (Treasurer of the Household)No complaints have been received which suggest that work in connection with housing schemes is being held up by difficulty in obtaining the necessary capital. The Public Works Loan Commissioners are prepared to lend to local authorities having a rateable value of less than £200.000 who are unable to raise loans otherwise, and they have not refused to lend money to any such authorities. As regards authorities whose rateable value exceeds £200,000, only two authorities have stated that they have experienced difficulty in raising loans for this purpose, and my right hon. Friend is in communication with the Treasury in these cases.