§ 9. Mr. Wainwrightasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will take the necessary steps to enable young married couples, who desire to become owner-occupiers, to take up a mortgage repayable over a period of 40 years at an interest rate of not more than 4 per cent.
§ Sir K. JosephNo, Sir. The Government's objections to special forms of indirect subsidy have been explained on many occasions.
§ Mr. WainwrightWould it not be more considerate: to these young married couples, who are finding great difficulty in getting decent homes at reasonable rents, for the Government to accept the principle in my question and so ease the present heavy burden that falls on young people who are trying to buy houses?
§ Sir K. JosephThe problem of the number of houses for sale to such people is related to the capacity of the building industry, and the number of private houses under construction is at a record level.