UK: SELF INTEREST - OLD PERK PERKS UP.

In the '70s and late '80s, the bank or building society employee's mortgage subsidy was a handy perk. Alistair Blair looks at how it's faring in the '90s.

Only a few inflationary years ago, the staff mortgage subsidy was a perk without equal. Most banks and building societies had capped the benefit years earlier, when the Inland Revenue pointed out that it was income by another name. Nonetheless, when the rest of us were flailed by double-digit interest rates, those who had a half, or even a third, of their mortgage interest payments subsidised by financial employers thanked their lucky stars. They spend less time giving thanks nowadays.