§ Mr. Crawfordasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the cost to the Exchequer of a Government allowance of 10 per cent. on commercial buildings in 1979–80.
§ Mr. Robert Sheldon:The cost of a 10 per cent. initial allowance for new capital expenditure incurred on the construction of all commercial buildings after 5th April 1979, together with annual writing down allowances on this expenditure at the same 4 per cent. rate as applies to industrial buildings, is estimated on the current level of expenditure to be as follows:
1979–80 neglible 1980–81 about £100 million 1981–82 about £200 million 1982–83 about £275 million The annual cost would continue to rise until it reached an estimated maximum of a little under £1,500 million after 20 years.