Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether (a) the Competition and Market Authority and (b) his Department has provided guidance to public authorities on offering loans to developers (i) at less than market rate and (ii) on preferential terms.

The Department for Business and Trade’s statutory guidance for the subsidy control regime helps public authorities to comply with the Subsidy Control Act 2022.

This includes subsidies given in the form of loans. We also provide additional guidance to public authorities on request. This would include discussions on below market rate and preferential loans. Where relevant thresholds are met, the Subsidy Advice Unit in the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is responsible for evaluating the relevant public authority’s assessment of compliance with subsidy control rules, and publishing a report of their findings. These can be found on the CMA’s website.