§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how many people claim mortgage tax relief; how many of these people also claim the married man's tax allowance; how many of those people who do not claim the married man's tax allowance claim mortgage tax relief in respect of the same property as another person who claims mortgage tax relief; and how many of those people who do claim the married man's tax allowance claim mortgage tax relief in respect of the same property as another person who claims mortgage tax relief;
(2) on how many dwellings mortgage tax relief is claimed; on how many of these dwellings two or more unmarried people claim mortgage tax relief; and on how many such dwellings mortgage tax relief is claimed on more than £30,000;
85W(3) what is the estimated saving to the Exchequer of limiting mortgage tax relief to individual residences rather than to individual taxpayers as suggested in Cmnd. 9756.
Mr. Norman Lament[pursuant to his reply, 25 November 1986, c. 239]: In 1986–87 there are estimated to be 8.2 million mortgagors, of whom 1.7 million are single people and 6.5 million married couples.
Although firm information is not available, it is tentatively estimated that about 500,000 single people are involved in multiple borrower mortgages in respect of around 250,000 properties. The number of married couples involved in multiple borrower mortgages is thought to be very small. About 50,000 of these mortgages, involving around 100,000 individuals, are thought to exceed £30,000.
The estimated annual saving to the Exchequer of limiting mortgage interest relief to individual residences rather than individual taxpayers with a limit of £30,000 per property is about £15 million at 1986–87 levels of income and mortgage interest rates, assuming no consequential change in the distribution of mortgages outstanding.