FINANCIAL NOTES
HALIFAX BUILDING SOCIETY
INVESTORS and depositors in the building societies will study the speech of the chairman of the Halifax Building Society chiefly to obtain enlightenment on two points of immediat.. .interest to their movement. How far are the building societie• now protected against the risk of air bombardment? And
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FINANCIAL NOTES
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how far, if at all, is a decline in building activity to be ex- pected? On the first of these points General Sir Edward N. Whitley was reassuring. The real security of a nation-wide organisation like the Halifax Society is, he points out, that its mortgage assets are spread over 250,000 mortgages and over the whole area of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It would be very bad luck if the properties of Halifax mem- bers were singled out for destruction. The average amount outstanding per mortgage is only £419 ; the properties are mostly small, and should fare favourably under the Govern- ment's plan, which offers the highest percentage of compen- sation for the smallest properties. Sir Edward welcomed Sir John Simon's statement outlining a compensation plan, but reported that the Society would scrutinise with the utmost care the legislation which implements that promise.
He thought it was true that the peak of building of new houses by private enterprise had been passed, especially near London. But he felt that it might not be a bad thing to have a pause in which to reconsider the housing problem.
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