§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the statutory provisions which enable the Greater London Council to charge a lower rate of interest on home loans than it pays on money borrowed: and if he will seek to enable other local authorities to reduce the rate of interest charged on home loans to the level recommended by the Building Societies Association.
§ Mr. ShoreThe rate of interest to be charged on advances made under Section 43 of the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act 1958 is not laid down in the statute, but it is a condition of all lending schemes approved under this section where vari-412W able rates of interest are charged, that the rate should not be less than ¼ per cent. above the rate prevailing in the Consolidated Loans Fund or loans pool. The Greater London Council is subject to this regulation, in common with all other local authorities. Proposals to bring local authority interest rates into line with those charged by building societies are contained in the recently published Green Paper on housing policy.