It is nearly three decades since Mrs Thatcher's government put an end to MIRAS - mortgage interest relief at source - as part of a cost-cutting measure last time the nation's finances were in a state as parlous as they are now.
MIRAS helped kickstart the housing market and propelled the economy out of the recession of the early 1970s. This ultimately contributed, along with the right-to-buy former council properties, to the painful housing crash of the 1980s when interest rates were well into double digits. Anyone get the feeling we could be heading in the same direction, but this time for different reasons? The government’s Help to Buy scheme looked like it was contributing to the bubble and, thankfully, Mark Carney has moved to nip that in the bud. One area of the whole housing market that has not been...
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