§ Mr. Craigenasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the amount of building society holdings in the current year for which figures are available compared with the previous 12 months.
§ Mr. Lawson[pursuant to his reply, 15 December 1980]: At 30 June 1980, the latest date for which official statistics are at present available, the total amount of share and deposit holdings in building societies was £46,480 million. The figure at 30 June 1979 was £40,169 million.
§ Mr. Craigenasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many registered building societies there are in the United Kingdom; and how many of them have in excess of 8 per cent. of their total funds going into special advances.
§ Mr. Lawson[pursuant to his reply, 15 December 19801: As at 30 November 1980 there were 272 registered building societies in England, Wales and Scotland..
In 1979 there were 15 building societies in which the amount of special advances made during the year exceeded 8 per cent. of the total amount advanced by the society during the year.
At the end of 1979 there were 11 building societies in which the proportion of total mortgage balances represented by balances in respect of (a) advances made to bodies corporate, and (b) advances made to individuals whose indebtedness at the financial year-end of the societies exceeded the amount prescribed in relation to special advances—at that time £20,000—exceeded 8 per cent.
§ Mr. Craigenasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average building society advance in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Lawson[pursuant to his reply, 15 December 1980]: The average building society advance in the United Kingdom during the second quarter of 1980, the latest period for which official statistics are available, was £12,895.