§ Mr. Sedgemoreasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish in the Official Report details of (a) the annual number of heads of household in owner occupation who, since the introduction of the option mortgage scheme, 415W have taken advantage of the scheme when entering into a mortgage agreement, (b) the proportion of the total number of heads of household in owner occupation that the above annual figure represents and (c) the annual number of owner occupiers who have transferred from income tax relief to the option scheme after entering into a mortgage agreement.
§ Mr. ArmstrongAbout 840,000 option mortgages have been taken out since the scheme began in 1968, but it is not known how many of these were granted to heads of household. Annual details are:
Number of option mortgages Percentages of all mortgages 1968 150,000* — 28,000 7 1969 30,000 5 1970 41,000 7 1971 62,000 9 1972 147,000 21 1973 123,000 21 1974 106,000 21 * Estimated number of mortgagors who switched into the scheme when it was introduced. No information is available on the annual number of mortgagors who change from a tax relief to an option mortgage, although it is believed to be small.