(2) what his estimate is of the cost to the Exchequer of paying 100 per cent. income support mortgage interest to all those eligible, under 60 years of age, who took out their mortage after 2nd October 1995 after (a) 12, (b) 14, (c) 16, (d) 18, (e) 20, (f) 22, (g) 24, (h) 26, (i) 28, (j) 30, (k) 32, (l) 34 and (m) 36 weeks of the claim;
(3) what recent estimate he has made of the average rate of interest charged on mortgages in the UK;
(4) what recent estimate he has made of the number of new mortgages sold in the UK worth (a) 0 to 10 per cent., (b) 11 to 20 per cent., (c) 21 to 30 per cent., (d) 31 to 40 per cent., (e) 41 to 50 per cent., (f) 51 to 60 per cent., (g) 61 to 70 per cent., (h) 71 to 80 per cent., (i) 81 to 90 per cent. and (j) more than 100 per cent. of the value of the property in each year since 1990, broken down by region.
According to figures published by the Bank of England, the average mortgage rate in January 2008 for existing mortgages was 5.88 per cent. and for new mortgages was 5.92 per cent.
The Government do not hold the other figures requested. The Council of Mortgage Lenders publishes a range of statistics on UK housing and mortgage markets, including the number of mortgages in arrears and the median loan to value ratio of loans for home purchase, available at:
http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/statistics.