§ Mr. Ian TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table for the past five financial years showing how much his Department spent servicing mortgage lending debt incurred by borrowing from building societies.
§ Miss WiddecombeEstimates of amounts included for mortgage interest in the assessment of supplementary benefit and, from 1988, income support, are given in the table for each of the past five years for which information is available.
Information about building society loans is not collected. The amounts shown relate to the interest on loans from all mortgage lenders. In 1989, some 281,000 claimants had an amount for mortgage interest included in their assessment. For the vast majority, the amount is less than £100.00 per week.
188W
£million 1984 218.5 1986 351.2 1987 335.2
£ million 1988 285.6 1989 353.1 Source: Annual Statistical Enquiries 1984–89.
Notes:
In 1985 the Annual Statistical Enquiry was not undertaken.
Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred thousand.