§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will help prevent increases in rents by granting loans at low, subsidised, interest rates, similar to the 4 per cent. loans granted to councils since 1966 for new house building purposes, to local authorities faced with replacing cheap loans with loans at the high current rates of interest.
§ Mr. DiamondNo. The National Loans Act requires the Public Works Loan Board to charge Government lending rates on its loans to local authorities. The exceptional pegging of P.W.L.B. rates ceased upon the enactment of the Housing Subsidies Act, 1967.