§ Mr. Nigel GriffithsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many people would gain and what would be the average gain as a result of raising the level of savings under which housing benefit is payable to £10,000 on the assumption that(a) the rules for other benefits are unaltered, (b) the interest actually received on savings and not an arbitrarily assumed return is used in assessing benefit and (c) no change is made to the rule that those with savings of under £3,000 receive benefit in full;
(2) what would be the cost of raising the level of savings under which housing benefit is payable to £10,000 (a) in 1989–90 and (b) in a full year on the assumption that (i) the rules for other benefits are unaltered, (ii) the interest actually received on savings and not an arbitrarily assumed return is used in assessing benefit and (iii) no change is made to the rule that those with savings of under £3,000 receive benefit in full.
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd[pursuant to his reply, 28 February 1989]: We estimate that increasing the housing benefit capital limit from £8,000 to £10,000 would cost roughly £25 million. Generally speaking, current recipients with capital holdings between £3,000 and £6,000 would lose more as a result; those with savings between about £6,000 and £10,000 would gain. An additional, 45,000 people who do not currently qualify would become entitled to benefit of, on average, £10 a week.