§ Mr. Ovendenasked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what guidance he has issued to local authorities about the level of interest rates to be charged on local authority mortgages;
(2) if he will issue a circular advising that local authority mortgage rates 214W should be reduced in line with the recent action by the Building Societies Association;
(3) if he will advise local authorities not to increase mortgage rates.
§ Mr. ShoreIn general, I am sure that authorities do not need to be formally advised of the desirability of bringing their mortgage rates down in line with the general fall of interest rates. But the rates of interest charged by local authorities with approved home loans schemes are related to the costs of their own borrowings which are not necessarily the same as those of the building societies.