§ Mr. Stephen Rossasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether his Department has made any recent request to building societies to restrict lending to otherwise approved purchasers.
§ Mr. FreesonThe Government and the Council of the Building Societies Association have jointly established arrangements for stabilising the flow of mortgage funds and avoiding an excessive increase in house prices. For this purpose, as announced in April 1975, a close watch is kept on movements in house prices, figures of housing starts and a wide range of other factors affecting house building and purchase. This monitoring process forms the basis for regular discussions between the Government and the Building Societies Association in the Joint Advisory Committee on Building Society Mortgage Finance. Building societies plan their lending policies so as to support an active housing market and make adjustments to their levels of lending, as appropriate in the light of the discussions, to achieve the agreed objectives of stabilisation.