To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the change has been in (a) the size of the private rented sector and (b) average mortgage costs since 2000. (246827)

Based on the Survey of English Housing, average private rents in England (net of charges for services) are estimated to have risen from £92 per week in 2000-01 to £123 per week in 2006-07, an increase of 34 per cent.

For households in England who were repaying a mortgage, average mortgage payments were £86 per week in 2000-01 and £131 per week in 2006-07—an increase of 52 per cent.