§ 46. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, in view of recent Government action to control credit, he will make a statement on future policy with regard to council-house building loans and programmes.
Mr. AmoryCapital investment by local authorities does not come within the scope of the measures to restrain the expansion of private credit which I announced on 28th April. I therefore see no need for a statement.
§ Mr. AllaunAs this issue was evaded yesterday, and since, in my view, it has been evaded again just now, will the right hon. Gentleman give the House an undertaking at least that there will be no further increase in the interest rates on housing loans, since the doubling of these rates has already halved the council house programmes in the last five years and there is a growing demand for cheaper and not dearer loans?
Mr. AmoryI am afraid that I can give the hon. Member no such assurance. As he knows, the rates charged by the Public Works Loan Board depend upon the current rates for comparable loans in the market.
Mr. H. WilsonIs the Chancellor aware that very few councils can obtain loans from the Public Works Loan Board, even if they were at a reasonable rate? Is he further aware that to restore the housing subsidies at the full rate would cost only about £5 million a year? Since his right hon. Friend the Minister of Defence told us last week that he did not think that £500 million was an excessive burden on the economy, does the Chancellor realise what a great effect it would have on council house rents, and the finances of local authorities, if he restored housing subsidies?
Mr. AmoryI am quite sure that our present policies are right. I do not understand what the right hon. Gentleman means when he says that local authorities find it practically impossible to obtain loans from the Public Works Loan Board.