§ Mr. Hutchinsonasked the Minister of Pensions whether the supplementation of 60W widows' pensions, particulars of which appear from Section 4 of the recent White Paper, will include payments in respect of mortgage interest and instalments of the mortgage debt in cases where the widow is purchasing her home under the terms of a building society's mortgage?
§ Sir W. WomersleyThe Section in question provides for supplementation in respect of rent and rates. Where a house is being purchased under a building society mortgage it is necessary to adopt an assumed rent and for this purpose the gross Schedule A assessment is taken as the normal basis. It would not be reasonable to relate an assumed rent to a payment which represents not only interest on the debt but also repayment of the actual capital sum advanced.