§ Sir Patrick McNair-WilsonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish the latest figures available relating to the level of personal indebtedness of all adults aged 18 years and over, and as a percentage of the total population, in respect of(a) mortgages, (b) personal loans, (c) credit cards and (d) small business loans.
§ Mr. NelsonThe available statistics on lending to the personal sector do not include any information relating to the age of the borrowers. For the sector as a whole, which includes individuals, unincorporated businesses, charities and other private non-profit-making bodies, the levels outstanding as at 30 June 1992 were as follows:
£ billion Loans for house purchase (mortgages) 330.8 Bank credit cards 9.6 Othere consumer credit (personal loans) 43.1 Other borrowing from banks 40.6 Total personal sector borrowing 424.1 The figure for other borrowing from banks is mainly that of unincorporated businesses—some of which may be relatively large—but it also includes an element of borrowing by charities and other private non-profit-making bodies classified to the sector. The figure for credit cards relates only to bank credit cards; borrowing on other cards—for example, on some store cards—is included in the figures for other consumer credit and cannot be separately identified.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that the number of mortgages outstanding at the end of the first half of 1992 was 9.8 million.
The latest estimate of the adult population of the United Kingdom in mid-1991 is 44.5 million.