asked the Minister for Local Government if he will state each stage an application for a small dwelling loan must go through before the final loan is paid out; if he considers that the maximum loan available at present under statute is sufficient; if he considers that, if loans are increased, the present rate of interest is such as to encourage a great increase in the demand for housing under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts; and if he has any proposals to rectify the present serious position in this regard.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Small Dwellings Loans.
10.
The internal administrative arrangements for dealing with local authority house-purchase loans are decided by the local authorities and details are not available in my Department.
As regards the maximum amount of loan, I would refer the Deputy to my reply to questions put to me on 11th February, 1965, on the subject. I stated that the level of the maximum house-purchase loan that may be made by local authorities is kept under review by me and that I would propose an immediate increase in this maximum if I thought that the solution of the problems currently facing house-purchasers lay in that direction. I also indicated that in my opinion present difficulties in so far as local authority loans are concerned seem to arise more from the disparity between the prices being asked for houses and their value as determined by local authorities, than from an inadequate maximum loan limit.
I have no evidence to show that present interest rates as such have any marked disincentive effect on persons proposing to purchase or construct houses for themselves.