§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total cost of mortgage interest tax relief in Scotland in each year since 1993–94; what it is estimated to be for 1996–97; and what the costs would have been in each of these years if relief had been available at 25 per cent. [11930]
§ Mr. JackThe cost of mortgage interest tax relief in Scotland was estimated to be £300 million in 1993–94 and £240 million in 1994–95. In 1994–95 the rate of relief was 20 per cent. If relief had been available at 25 per cent., the cost would have been about £300 million. The estimated cost of the relief for 1993–94 is based on the regional distribution of the cost of mortgage interest relief from analyses of family expenditure surveys up to 1993. The estimate for 1994–95 is a projection based on applying the same regional distribution as in 1993–94 to the total figure for 1994–95. It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for regions for 1995–96 and 1996–97.