§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the retail price index takes full account of the increase since 1979 in (i) imputed rent and (ii) mortgage interest given in the reply to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby of 19 February,Official Report, column 524–25, concerning consumer's expenditure detailed in table 1.6 of the Monthly Digest of Statistics.
§ Mr. Lilley[holding answer 7 March 1990]: Imputed rents have not been used as a measure of owner-occupiers' housing costs in the retail prices index since 1975. They were then replaced by mortgage interest payments following a standardised formulation recommended by the Retail Prices Index Advisory Committee.