§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the current annual cost to the Exchequer of tax relief on mortgages; and what would be the cost to the Exchequer if tax relief on mortgages were limited to the 20 per cent. band.
§ Mr. DorrellThe cost of mortgage interest tax relief in 1992–93 is provisionally estimated to be £5.2 billion based on the conventional assumption of no further changes in interest rates.
If relief for existing amounts of allowable interest were restricted to a rate of 20 per cent., the cost would be about £4.2 billion, a reduction of £1 billion.