§ 26. Mr. William Hamiltonasked the President of the Board of Trade if he is aware of misleading advertisements put out by estate agents concerning houses for sale; and if he will introduce legislation to ensure that all such advertisements are accurate descriptions of the properties to be sold.
§ Mr. JayI am considering with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Housing and Local Government whether or not advertisements for houses should be brought within the new legislation on trade descriptions which I am preparing.
§ Mr. HamiltonDoes not my right hon. Friend agree that this is probably the most extravagant form of inaccurate advertising in the whole field of consumer goods, and will he consider the desirability of putting into the hands of the local authorities the advertising of houses in their area for sale below a certain price? If this were done, would it not save many people lots of time, lots of money and lots of travelling which they undertake unnecessarily now as a result of false advertising?
§ Mr. JayI should not rule out action such as my hon. Friend suggests. If he will supply to me any evidence of these practices, I shall be very glad to look at it.
§ Mr. Graham PageBut will not the right hon. Gentleman be a little more forthcoming? Does he not know that the Minister of Housing and Local Government let slip the other day that he intended to produce legislation to enforce intending vendors to employ local councils as their agents, and is not this a ruse to let local councils discover what is ripe for compulsory purchase?
§ Mr. JayWhat I am concerned with is legislation to protect the consumer. This deals with consumer goods, and I very much doubt that that question arises.