§ Mr. Jesselasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the cost to the Exchequer in the current year of tax relief on interest or mortgages and other loans for house purchase up to the present level of £25,000 as fixed in 1974; and if he will estimate what the additional cost would be if the level were raised to £30,000, £35,000, £40,000 and £50,000; and what £25,000 on Budget day 1974 would now be worth, as measured by:
Estimated total income in 1979–80 Full year cost of main Budget proposals Numbers of taxpayers (counting married couple as one) £ per annum £ million Percentage of total '000 Percentage of total Under 2,000 … … 100 2 2,100 10 2,000–4,000 … … 630 14 6,700 31 4,000–6,000 … … 970 21 5,800 26 6,000–10,000 … … 1,350 29 5,700 26 10,000–20,000 … … 870 19 1,400 6 Over 2,000 … … 690 15 200 1 Total … … 4,610 100 21,900 100 The division requested at £15,000 is not readily available. The numbers over
554W(a) the movement in the retail price index and (b) by the movement in house prices for houses in the range of £25,000 in 1974.
§ Mr. Peter Rees, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 15th June 1979; Vol. 968, c. 348], gave the following answer:
The estimated cost of mortgage interest relief in a full year at 1979–80 income levels, after taking account of the Budget proposals, is about £700 million. I regret that the information on which to base a reliable estimate of the cost of increasing the present limit of £25,000 is not available. If the limit were increased in line with the change in the retail prices index between April 1974 and April 1979 it would become £50,000. The corresponding figure based on the increase in the average price of all dwellings between the second quarter of 1974 and the first quarter of 1979 would be £42,200. No figure is available for the increase in price of houses costing £25,000 in 1974.