§ 28. Mr. Dempseyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will introduce a system of financial grants to assist and encourage persons who are anxious to own their own homes.
§ Mr. GalbraithNo, Sir. My right hon. Friend's proposals to encourage private building in Scotland are set out in the White Paper Housing in Scotland and, in so far as they require legislation, are embodied in the Housing (Scotland) Bill.
§ Mr. DempseyIs the Under-Secretary of State aware that the terms of that reply are a repudiation of both his and 1085 his party's election promises about having a property-owning democracy? Does he not realise that interest rates are so prodigious that it is very difficult for young people to own their own homes? Will he not at the very least agree that they are entitled to have the same subsidies that farmers get when they build houses on their own farms?
§ Mr. GalbraithI think that a large part of the hon. Member's supplementary question is entirely by the way, but I am afraid that I do not agree with him. If he looks at the Bill he will see that there are schemes for private co-operative ownership on the Scandinavian model which would be a great help to the very kind of people he has in mind.