Mr. Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he is prepared to use his power under Section 43 of the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act to vary the advice given in Circular 5/60 in order to allow local authorities, that so wish, to charge the same rate of interest on house purchase advances as that currently recommended by the Building Societies Association.
§ Mr. FreesonIt is implicit in Section 3 of the Housing (Financial Provisions) Act 1958 that local authority home loans schemes should be run as far as practicable without loss. Legislation would be needed if losses were to be incurred by local authorities lending at the current Building Societies Association recommended rate.