§ Mr. Murphyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, what information Her Majesty's Government gather as to the level of house prices throughout the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir George YoungThe following information is provided to my Department on prices of dwellings purchased in the United Kingdom:
(a) monthly summary returns from the 16 largest building societies, on the number of dwellings and the aggregate prices paid, at mortgage approval and completion stages.
(b) returns of price and other information relating to dwellings covered by a sample of completed mortgage advances from building societies of all sizes, except the very smallest.
(c) from the British Insurance Association, the number of dwellings, their aggregate price and their distribution by price band, bought with mortgage advances from 16 insurance companies responsible for about half of the total lending for house purchase by insurance companies.
(d) through the Bank of England, the distribution by price-band of dwellings for which mortgages have been approved by banks.
Results from these inquiries are published in quarterly and annual editions of "Housing and Construction Statistics" copies of which are in the Library. Results from the sample survey of building society mortgages are used 434W to construct an index of house prices adjusted for changes in the mix of dwellings sold and this index also appears in "Housing and Construction Statistics".
Information on the relatively small proportion of dwellings purchased with cash or with mortgages from other sources is not available.