asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give an estimate of the savings to the Treasury by way of income tax relief if the building societies reduced the interest rate from 11 per cent. to 10 per cent. to the 4½ million people buying their homes on a mortgage.

Assuming no consequential changes to other rates of mortgage interest, the estimate for 1974–75—the latest complete year for which figures of interest payments are available—is about £50 million.