South Yorkshire Times, November 24th, 1951
Conisbrough Plan for Keeping Rents Down
Conisbrough Urban Council propose to call a conference of neighbouring authorities to consider a scheme suitable for submitting to the appropriate Government Department for setting up a housing loan fund. It is suggested that interest on all borrowed money should be at a “very much reduced rate.”
Coun. J. T. E. Collins, Housing Committee chairman, explained that at Monday meeting of Conisbrough Urban Council that they hoped to persuade the government to establish a housing loan fund to enable local authorities to build more houses at much reduced rate of interests
The scheme had been in the minds of members for two months, Coun. Collins continued, but owing to pressure of business they had not been able to give full discussion to the proposal. It was hoped neighbouring authorities invited would send representatives to the proposed conference.
Coun. G. Cheshire said the proposal was not pressed when first mooted because it was found it demanded a fair amount of time for consideration. “Now the Government have decided to increase the Public Works Loan interest from 3% to 3 ¾%, then this is going to have a damaging effect on housing loans.”
He said the Conisbrough authority was probably going to be hit harder than most authorities because of the policy they had pursued in the past. Because of that policy, they had not taken up loans as early as they might have done.
Coun. Cheshire estimated that the effect of the government’s decision on Conisbrough’s housing rents would be increases of between 2s 6d and 3s. County Coun. B. Roberts said the people who got the new houses would be the people who would have to pay the increased rent and it would be very serious if that increase was to be as much as 2s or 3s.