Homes and Mortgages
Mr. Wilson, in one of his more elegant phrases, observed that most of 'those who criticised what Mr. George Brown did (or did not) say about reducing interest rates wouldn't know a mortgage from the back end of a camel. Well, I do. I bought a house on mortgage from a building society. Indeed, my house was only a few yards from the famous Lavender Hill allotment site which has been featured so prominently by the Labour Party and by The Times. It is a pity they did not check on the facts. The man who bought the site wanted to build on it, not acquire a vast unearned capital gain. That he did so was en- tirely due to the incompetence and slowness of the local Socialist Council. It is Brother Brown who does not understand how a mortgage works. How othei-wise could he possibly have said, as he did, that 'only one in ten of all the house- holders in this country could now afford to buy their own houses or pay an economic rent.' Even
in Mr. Brown's day (1951)—and was he not Minister of Works?-29 per cent of all homes were owner-occupied. Now, of course, the per' centage-44 per cent—is far higher. And if Mr. Brown would care to study the 1963 survey by the Co-operative Permanent Building Society he would find that half the people who buy their home through the society earn less than ad a week, and a quarter less than £16. Average male earnings in industry are f17 12s. Mr. Wilson's announced policy for housing involves a substantial reduction in the number of houses to be built for private ownership. Perhaps Mr. Wilson and Mr. Brown should study the camel.
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