House Prices

Mr. Austin Mitchell
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the ratio of house prices to median, quartile and decile incomes of full-time adult male manual and non-manual workers in April 1979, April 1988 and April 1989; what was the effect on prices of the increase in the incomes of highly paid non-manual workers; and what action he will take to ensure that houses are no less affordable to the median manual worker than in 1979.

Mr. Chope
The available information is as follows: -----
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House prices are determined between individual buyers and sellers. No Government have sought to dictate the price at which houses must be sold. We have no plan to do so.