Home loans can damage your health

THE health implications of running up huge debts have been underlined by a study into stress levels. The fear of falling behind on mortgage payments, coupled with the threat of repossession, can have a devastating effect on health, warns research conducted on behalf of the British Medical Association.

The report comes at a time when banks and building societies are relaxing lending rules by inviting buyers to borrow up to six times their salary in response to a slowdown in the market.

Although analysts believe a major slump leading to negative equity is unlikely, the BMA suggests that the mental and physical wellbeing of millions of homeowners could already have been compromised.

However, a number of changes to mortgages made by Tony Blair's Government may have added to the strain of buying a property. In 2000 Chancellor Gordon Brown abolished mortgage tax relief, leaving 10.6m households worse off by up to £208 a year. In the same year the Government also scrapped the married couple's allowance, except for the over-65s, making life even more difficult for young couples with mortgages.

These changes came the year after the emergence of the endowment mortgages mis-selling scandal. Huge numbers of policyholders were sold plans with promises of investment growth ranging from 7% to 10.5% a year. But when this failed to materialise many were left with mortgage shortfalls rather than the handsome surplus they were expecting.

The BMA issued the health warning as part of its Housing and Health study, which also expressed concerns over the impact of poor housing on health.

Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's head of science and ethics, said: 'Poor housing can cause psychological and physical health problems and the best way to reduce health inequalities in this country is to improve living standards. We are worried about children growing up in overcrowded, substandard bed and breakfast accommodation; we are worried about the elderly living on their own in old, damp, cold homes, and we're worried about the spiralling stress levels of people who fear mortgage arrears and debt.'

The report said the private sector contained the largest proportion of sub-standard housing and called for landlords to be given licences only if their properties met minimum health standards.

A 1996 survey of English homes found that 1,522,000 did not meet required standards, but the BMA said it welcomed Labour pledges to make all social housing decent by 2010 and it called on the Government to set up a taskforce to tackle the problem.