§ Mr. David NicholsonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate at 1989–90 income levels the cost to the Exchequer of(a) raising the ceiling on mortgage interest relief from £30,000 to £50,000 and (b) raising the ceiling for exemption from stamp duty on land and buildings from £30,000 to £60,000.
§ Mr. Lilley(a) The direct revenue cost at 1989–90 income levels of raising the ceiling on mortgage interest relief from £30,000 to £50,000 is estimated to be about £900 million. This estimate makes no allowance for any consequential change to the distribution of outstanding mortgages. It is based on a projection of the 1987–88 survey of personal incomes, and is therefore provisional.
(b) An increase in the stamp duty threshold for land and buildings from £30,000 to £60,000 is estimated to cost about £210 million at forecast 1989–90 levels.