§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether, in view of the fact that some local authorities are now being forced to charge interest rates of between 11½ to 13 per cent. on their housing mortgages, he will now provide assistance to enable them to bring these rates down to the 11 per cent. currently charged to the building societies.
§ Mr. FreesonThe question of local authority mortgage rates will be urgently studied as part of the wider examination of housing finance. Only a minority of 131W local authorities appear to charge mortgage rates which are higher than the Building Societies Association recommended mortgage rate of 11 per cent.