§ Mr. MAXTONasked the Minister of Agriculture the number of applications made under the terms of the Agricultural Credits Act, 1928, to the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation for land purchase and to the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation for improvements, respectively; the number of these applications approved and the sums of money involved in each class; the number and amount of short-term charges on farming stock and assets registered at the Land Registry under Part II of the 1928 Act; and the financial terms of the loans in all classes?
§ Mr. N. BUXTONApplications for loans under Part I of the Agricultural Credits Act, 1928, received by the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation up to the close of business on Tuesday, 18th March, 1930, were as follow:
£ Loans on Mortgage (2,533) … 9,072,912 Improvement Loans (99) … 113,832 £9,186,744 These applications have been dealt with as follow:
Loans completed. £ Loans on Mortgage (1,333) … 4,054,630 Improvement Loans (20) … 8,770 £4,063,400 In addition, the following have been approved by the directors of the Corporation subject to satisfactory completion of the formalities:
291W
£ Loans on Mortgage (339) … 1,377,160 Improvement Loans (15) … 19,650 £1,396,810 I have no information as to what proportion of the mortgage loans were required for the purchase of land or for the repayment of existing loans. I am sending to my hon. Friend a copy of a circular issued by the Corporation setting out the terms on which long-term loans may be granted under Part I of the Act. The number of agricultural charges created under Part II of the Act from 1st October, 1928, up to and including Saturday, 22nd March, 1930, was 2,052, standing in the names of 2,444 farmers. The financial terms upon which a bank may lend to a farmer on the security of an agricultural charge under Part II of the Act are matters for arrangement between the bank and the borrower.