§ Mr. Sainsburyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what would be the cost in 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83 and 1983–84 of granting capital allowances for new retail buildings, at the 20 per cent. hotels rate, from 5 August.
§ Mr. Peter Rees[pursuant to his reply, 20 June 1980, c. 697]: The latest available estimates for the cost of granting capital allowances for new shops at the hotel rates from 5 August 1980 is as follows:—
rising—at recent levels of expenditure—to about £250 million by the end of the century.
1980–1 Negligible 1981–2 £20 million 1982–3 £50 million 1983–4 £65 million If other buildings such as retail warehouses were included, the cost would be higher. I regret that the available information is insufficient to enable it to be estimated.
The above estimate assumes that sufficient profiits are available to absorb the allowances in full.