§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what, according to the information available to 504W him, is the number of building societies currently operating; and at what rate are new ones coming into existence.
§ Mr. LawsonI have been asked to reply.
As at 23 June 1980, there were 281 registered building societies, of which 17 were not able to take new deposits. This compares with a figure of 504 registered societies in 1970. Since the beginning of 1978, three new societies have come into existence, of which two were the result of mergers between two existing societies.