It has not been possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation. I will write to the hon. Member in due course.

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

It has not been possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation. I will write the hon. Member in due course.

The following table shows the numbers of claims leading to orders for the repossession of property by mortgage lenders and landlords in (a) Pendle constituency (b) Lancashire county and (c) England and Wales between 2008 and 2012. The Ministry of Justice hold information for England and Wales and not the United Kingdom.

The table also shows the number of claims leading to the repossession of property by county court bailiffs in England and Wales.

Information regarding the repossession of property by county court bailiffs is not available for Pendle constituency or for Lancashire county. Information is also not held on the total number of repossessions as these can occur without a court order, such as where borrowers hand the keys back to the lender. Also, not all possession orders result in repossession. Many orders are suspended and if the borrower complies with the repayment arrangements set out in the suspended order the property will not be repossessed.

Information on the number of claims leading to orders made is more accurate than the number of orders, removing the double-counting of instances where a single claim leads to more than one order. It is also a more meaningful measure of the number of homeowners who are subject to court repossession actions.

The most recent data for claims leading to orders figures for all regions and local authority areas in England and Wales were recently published on 14 February 2013. This statistical bulletin is available from the Ministry of Justice website at:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/civil-justice/mortgage-possession.htm

In addition statistics on mortgage and landlord possession claims leading to orders made in the county courts of England and Wales, 2000-11—breakdown by parliamentary constituencies is available in the House of Commons Library.

The following table shows the numbers of claims leading to orders for the repossession of property by mortgage lenders and landlords in City of Chester between 2007 and 2012.

Information is not held on the total number of repossessions as these can occur without a court order, such as where borrowers hand the keys back to the lender. Also, not all possession orders result in repossession. Many orders are suspended and if the borrower complies with the repayment arrangements set out in the suspended order the property will not be repossessed.

Information on the number of claims leading to orders made is more accurate than the number of orders, removing the double-counting of instances where a single claim leads to more than one order. It is also a more meaningful measure of the number of homeowners who are subject to court repossession actions.

The Ministry of Justice hold information for England and Wales and not the United Kingdom. The most recent data for claims leading to orders figures for all regions and local authority areas in England and Wales were recently published on 14 February 2013. Information is also available regarding the number of repossessions by county court bailiffs for England and Wales. This statistical bulletin is available from the Ministry of Justice website at:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/civil-justice/mortgage-possession.htm

In addition statistics on mortgage and landlord possession claims leading to orders made in the county courts of England and Wales, 2000-11—Breakdown by Parliamentary Constituencies is available in the House of Commons library.

People who are unable to work because they are ill or disabled can claim employment and support allowance. Claimants who are entitled to income-related employment and support allowance may receive an additional element called support for mortgage interest. This makes a contribution towards the interest on eligible loans taken out to purchase the property occupied as the home, and specific loans for repairs and improvements which are necessary to maintain the home's fitness for habitation.

When a new claim for income-related employment and support allowance is made, there is normally a 13 week waiting period before support for mortgage interest can be paid. Support for mortgage interest is calculated by applying a standard interest rate (currently 3.63%), and to eligible capital up to a limit of £200,000.

Left unchecked, the last Administration's deficit would have forced up interest rates, meaning more expensive mortgages and other borrowing, more repossessions and fewer first time buyers; this would have been compounded by the fact that household debts were the highest in our history

Under this Government, homeowners are benefiting from lower interest rates; we have effectively reduced the cost of mortgages thanks to the action taken to tackle the deficit: just a 1% rise in market interest rates would have added almost £100 extra on a typical family's mortgage bill each month.

The Government is committed to working closely with lenders, debt advice agencies and local authorities to ensure that repossession is only ever a last resort and that effective help and advice for homeowners at risk of repossession is available.

www.gov.uk/repossession/get-advice

outlines the options available to households.

A range of Government support is in place to help homeowners at risk of repossession. Targeted support includes the Department of Communities and Local Government-funded £221 million Mortgage Rescue Scheme, aimed at vulnerable homeowners at risk of repossession which has been improved to deliver better value for money for the taxpayer. Applications for the scheme are considered by local authorities across England as part of their duties to prevent homelessness. Support for mortgage interest, paid as part of DWP benefits, remains available to help eligible out of work households meet their monthly interest payments.

The Department of Communities and Local Government announced £20 million funding for preventing repossessions in February last year which provides additional options for local housing authorities to tackle repossessions in their local area. Southend-on-Sea borough council received £39,875 for a Preventing Repossessions Fund which can be used to offer small interest free loans or grants to households at risk of repossession to address immediate short term financial difficulties and avoid households becoming homeless due to mortgage possession.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has reported that repossessions in the last full calendar year (2011) were at their lowest annual level since 2007. Moreover, in the

most recent quarter (July to September 2012), repossessions were down 4% on the previous quarter and down 15% on the same quarter in 2011.

The following table shows the numbers of claims leading to orders being made for the repossession of property by mortgage lenders and landlords in Suffolk Coastal constituency between 2007 and 2011. The Ministry of Justice does not hold information at the local level on the total numbers of repossessions of property (including where keys are handed back voluntarily).

These figures represent the numbers of claims leading to orders being made. This is more accurate than the

number of orders, removing the double-counting of instances where a single claim leads to more than one order. It is also a more meaningful measure of the number of homeowners who are subject to court repossession actions.

These figures do not indicate how many properties have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order, such as where borrowers hand the keys back to the lender. Also, not all possession orders result in repossession. Many orders are suspended and if the borrower complies with the repayment arrangements set out in the suspended order the property will not be repossessed.

The most recent data for claims leading to orders figures for all regions and local authority areas in England and Wales were recently published on 8 November 2012. This statistical bulletin is available from the Ministry of Justice website at:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/civil-justice/mortgage-possession.htm

In addition statistics on mortgage and landlord possession claims leading to orders made in the county courts of England and Wales, 2000 to 2011—Breakdown by Parliamentary Constituencies—is available in the House of Commons Library.

The table shows the numbers of claims leading to orders being made for the repossession of property by mortgage lenders and landlords in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency and (b) Suffolk county between 2007 and 2012. The Ministry of Justice does not hold information at the local level on the total numbers of repossessions of property (including where keys are handed back voluntarily).

These figures represent the numbers of claims leading to orders being made. This is more accurate than the number of orders, removing the double-counting of instances where a single claim leads to more than one order. It is also a more meaningful measure of the number of home owners who are subject to court repossession actions.

These figures do not indicate how many properties have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order, such as where borrowers hand the keys back to the lender. Also, not all possession orders result in repossession. Many orders are suspended and if the borrower complies with the repayment arrangements set out in the suspended order the property will not be repossessed.

The most recent data for claims leading to orders figures for all regions and local authority areas in England and Wales were recently published on 8 November 2012. This statistical bulletin is available from the Ministry of Justice website at:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/statistics-and-data/civil-justice/mortgage-possession.htm

In addition, statistics on mortgage and landlord possession claims leading to orders made in the county courts of England and Wales, 2000-11—breakdown by parliamentary constituencies is available in the House of Commons Library.

The Government is helping homeowners in difficulty by tackling the record deficit inherited from the last Administration to prevent a rapid increase in interest rates hitting struggling households.

The Government is committed to working closely with lenders, debt advice agencies and local authorities to ensure that repossession is only ever a last resort and that effective help and advice for homeowners at risk of repossession is available. www.direct.gov.uk/mortgagehelp outlines the options available to households.

A range of Government support is in place to help homeowners at risk of repossession. Targeted support includes Support for Mortgage Interest, a DWP benefit designed to help eligible out of work households meet their monthly interest payments and the £221 million Mortgage Rescue Scheme aimed at vulnerable homeowners at risk of repossession which has been improved to deliver better value for money for the taxpayer. Applications for the scheme are considered by local authorities across England as part of their duties to prevent homelessness.

The Department of Communities and Local Government announced £20 million funding for preventing repossessions in February this year which provides additional options for local housing authorities to tackle repossessions in their local area. Coventry council received £154,734 for a Preventing Repossessions Fund which can be used to offer small interest free loans or grants to households at risk of repossession to address immediate short term financial difficulties and avoid households becoming homeless due to mortgage possession.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) takes its duty of care for its service personnel very seriously. All service personnel have an entitlement to be accommodated by the MOD in service families accommodation, or in single living accommodation, as appropriate.

No service personnel are left homeless. Should any service person living in their own home be subject to repossession, they would be re-housed under MOD policy. However, such an eventuality would be a private matter and no records of it are maintained by the MOD.

Further to my answer of 2 July 2012, Official Report, column 581, I can note that only a very small minority of mortgages, primarily subprime and buy to let from specialist lenders, are directly linked to LIBOR. Most of these were lent before the banking crisis. Very few (if any) of the large banks/building societies provide mortgage products which have a direct link to LIBOR. Therefore only a small minority of mortgages will have been directly affected by the attempted manipulation.

It may be possible that there was some indirect impact on the pricing of mortgages. This is due to the links between LIBOR and the cost of wholesale funding. However, wholesale funding makes up only a part of the funding mix used by banks to lend to the real economy, and the cost of funding is one of a number of factors used by banks when considering how to price their mortgages. Therefore while the attempted manipulation may have had some indirect effects, these are likely to have been small. It is also important to remember that where the aim was to attempt to manipulate LIBOR downwards, the effect may have been positive, as it would have reduced the costs of bank funding.

The Government has established an independent review into the structure and governance of LIBOR and the corresponding criminal sanctions regime. This will be headed by Martin Wheatley (Chief Executive Officer designate of the Financial Conduct Authority) and it is envisaged that it will report by the end of summer.