§ Sir Michael McNair-WilsonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exhequer what is the ratio of investors in building societies to those who have mortgages from them.
§ Mr. Lilley[holding answer 12 December 1988]: Figures in the annual report of the Building Societies Commission for 1987–88 suggest that at the end of 1987 there were in total 45.6 million investing shareholders and depositors in building societies. Since some people have an account at more than one society and many people have joint accounts, the exact number of individual investors is not known. During the same period there were 7.2 million borrowers with mortgages. This figure treats as single borrowers almost all holders of joint mortgages.