§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the number of households with negative equity in each region in each year since 1987.
§ Sir George YoungEstimates of the number of households with negative equity are not available for all regions and all years since 1987. Estimates made for the third quarter of 1993, are as follows:8W
Number Greater London 140,000 South East excluding London 340,000 South West and East Anglia 160,000 East Midlands and West Midlands 100,000 Yorkshire and Humberside, North West, North 60,000 England 800,000 Changes in the value of houses between the quarter in which they were purchased and the third quarter of 1993 are estimated from the DoE mix-adjusted index of prices of second hand dwellings. Mortgage debt is as at the time of purchase, as there is no direct information about subsequent changes. Ratios of mortgage advances to price, and the distribution of purchases between regions as derived from the building societies mortgage survey are assumed to have applied to house purchase loans by other lenders as well, in the absence of specific information about them.