§ Mr. RaynsfordTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number of mortgages in England with negative equity, and the number who will benefit directly from the recently announced changes in limits to unsecured loans and MIRAS entitlement.
§ Mr. NelsonEstimates of the number of households with negative equity have varied considerably. A figure of around 1 million for the United Kingdom was published in the August edition of the "Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin".
The number of those who will benefit directly from the measures recently announced by the Government will depend on a range of factors, including the proportion of them who wish to move; the way in which they choose to go about it; their personal circumstances; the attitude of their lender; and the extent to which mortgage indemnity insurance can be transferred. In practice, the number of potential beneficiaries is likely to be in the tens of thousands.