§ Mr. MilburnTo ask the Secretary of State for the environment, pursuant to his answer of 23 February,Official Report, column 268, if he will update the table on the number of households in negative equity. [27532]
§ Mr. Robert B. JonesEstimates of negative equity are sensitive to the house price index and other assumptions used. Based on Department of the Environment house price data, an estimate of the number of households affected by negative equity in the first quarter of 1995 and the value of negative equity by region is as follows:
Region Number of households (thousands) Value (millions) South East 374 1,910 Greater London 1.00 371 South West 97 309 East Anglia 71 309 East Midlands 33 71 West Midlands 7 6 Wales 11 13 Yorks and Humberside 70 153 North West 41 29 North 28 40 Scotland 53 80 Northern Ireland 1 1 UK 886 3,292 This table is intended to provide only a broad indication of the level of negative equity. Certain assumptions used in compiling the table may have overstated the number. My Department is reviewing with the Bank of England the reliability of those assumptions.