§ Mr. Marksasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what has been the effect of changes in interest rates since 1967 on the cost of building new council houses and on the repayment of loan charges on old council houses.
§ Mr. MacCollThe effect on local authorities of changes in interest rates on the cost of building new council houses is slight because the broad effect of the Housing Subsidies Act 1967 is to enable local authorities to provide new housing at an interest rate of 4 per cent. I cannot estimate the effect of changes in interest rates since 1967 on the loan charges on older houses because I have insufficient information on the current composition of local authority debt, which varies from authority to authority.