Written question asked by Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay (Liberal Democrat), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Deighton (Conservative) on Monday, 7 April 2014.

Housing

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what confidence they have in the forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, set out in Table D2 on page 107 of the Budget 2014 Red Book, that commercial property prices will rise by 11.9 per cent in 2013–14, after rising by 23 per cent in 2012–13 and then rising by 21 per cent in 2014–15; and whether HM Revenue and Customs will review the stamp duty land tax returns on which the 2013–14 assumption is based for possible errors in calculation.[HL6331]

Answer: The OBR is responsible for producing independent economic and fiscal forecasts. Their latest forecast was published in the March 2014 Economic and fiscal outlook, published alongside Budget 2014. Each year the OBR also publish a Forecast evaluation report that examines how their forecasts compare to subsequent outturns.

Secondary information