The information is not yet available. From the academic year 2012/13, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) started to capture information on the tuition fees charged to new students. This includes the “gross fee” charged before any financial support from the institution such as waivers are taken into account, and the “net fee” charged after adjustments have been made for financial support provided by their institution. This is the first year this information has been collected and analysts at HESA are assessing this data for quality and completeness.

We continue to review our estimate of the Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) charge in light of new earnings data and other factors. Our current estimate of the RAB charge for post-2012 loans is around 40%.

The Government has confirmed its intention to realise value for the taxpayer through a sale of the pre-2012 income contingent repayment student loan book. The expectation is that loans will be sold in a number of tranches over a period of years.

As set out in the autumn statement, 5 December 2013, Official Report, columns 1101-13, the estimate of gross proceeds over the five-year period starting in financial year 2015/16 is £10 billion to £15 billion with a central estimate of £12 billion. In table 2.5 of the autumn statement, this central estimate of gross proceeds is distributed evenly across the relevant years of the forecast period for modelling purposes.

An estimate of overall net impact of the sales, including the impact of lower repayments resulting from loan disposals, is incorporated in the overall forecasts for the public finances produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility in the December 2013 Economic and fiscal outlook report, available at:

http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/economic-fiscal-outlook-december-2013/

The structural problems in the forecasting model concern the forecasts of earnings, which the model carries out in order to estimate future repayments.

The model predicts future earnings based on the current year's earnings only. This lack of earnings history can lead to unrealistic earnings paths being forecast.

Further information on this can be found at the following URL:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/simplified-student-loan-repayment-model

This is the web page for a simplified version of the student loan repayment model which was published in 2012, and which demonstrates the essential features of the larger departmental model.

We currently estimate that around 35% to 40% of the value of post-2012 student loans will not be repaid.

The Government has confirmed its intention to realise value for the taxpayer through a sale of the pre-2012 income contingent repayment student loan book. The expectation is that loans will be sold in a number of tranches over a period of years.

As set out in the autumn statement, 5 December 2013, Official Report, columns 1101-13, the estimate of gross proceeds over the five-year period starting in financial year 2015/16 is £10 billion to £15 billion with a central estimate of £12 billion. In table 2.5 of the autumn statement, this central estimate of gross proceeds is distributed evenly across the relevant years of the forecast period for modelling purposes.

An estimate of overall net impact of the sales, including the impact of lower repayments resulting from loan disposals, is incorporated in the overall forecasts for the public finances produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility in the December 2013 Economic and fiscal outlook report, available at:

http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/economic-fiscal-outlook-december-2013/

The requested estimates are not available. However, the Student Loans Company regularly publishes statistics on maintenance grants that give a broad indication of the distribution of students by household income. That information can be used to broadly infer what might happen if income-contingent loans were capped on gross parental income.

[holding answer 27 November 2013]: The Government has no current plans to make a specific assessment of students' rented property; however it is taking forward a review into the condition of property in the private rented sector to ensure that there is a robust system in place to check that tenants' homes are safe and healthy with appropriate standards of hygiene and sanitation. The review will include and take account of the views of tenant groups including students.

Most landlords ask a tenant to pay a deposit before moving in to the property and, providing they have appropriate evidence, can withhold a proportion at the end of the tenancy to cover any damage caused by the tenant. Many landlords also request a guarantor for the tenant's obligations—for example, if the tenant in question cannot demonstrate a prior track record of having rented previously.

Many universities already work with local authorities to ensure a consultative approach is taken on development and standards of accommodation for students and we will encourage this to continue in the future.

Local authorities have powers, under the Housing Act 2004, to assess the risks and hazards of any property. If a property is found to contain serious (category 1) hazards, the local authority has a duty to take the most appropriate action. This could range from trying to deal with the problems informally at first to prohibiting the use of the whole or part of the dwelling. This system provides an important safety net, ensuring that homes are safe and decent.

For Houses of Multiple Occupation, there is a statutory duty on local authorities to licence larger higher risk dwellings of three or more storeys housing five or more unrelated persons. These properties are seen as higher risk, both because of the nature and condition of the properties, and the vulnerability of their occupants. The mandatory Houses of Multiple Occupation licensing regime addresses poor management practices and aims to secure a reduction in death and injury from fire and other health and safety hazards, and ensures adequate provision of amenities.

Statistics on the financial support awarded and paid to applicants for student support or their higher education institution (HEI) are published by the Student Loans Company in their annual statistical first release (SFR) “Student Support For Higher Education in England”. The latest SFR was published on 28 November 2013.

http://www.slc.co.uk/media/694170/slcsfr052013.pdf

Table 4b (ii) of the recent SFR provides estimates of the proportion of the tuition fee loan eligible population enrolled at public providers of higher education who were paid a tuition fee loan during the course of the academic year. The number and relative proportions that were estimated to be eligible but did not take out a tuition fee loan are shown in the table for the 2011/12 academic year, the latest year for which the loan-eligible population can be estimated.

Estimates of the size of the loan-eligible population at alternative providers of higher education are not available, though latest figures show that during the course of the academic year 2012/13 some 25,000 UK students and 700 EU students were paid tuition fee loans at alternative providers.

The Student Loan Company (SLC) will be responsible for allocating student loans in 2014-15. Student loan repayments will be collected either by HM Revenue and Customs if the borrower is employed or self-employed in the United Kingdom, or directly by the SLC if the borrower is living outside the UK.

The Government announced the sale of the remaining publicly owned Mortgage Style student loans on 25 November for £160 million to Erudio Student Loans Ltd. There will be no changes to loan terms, including the calculation of interest rates which are fixed at a rate equivalent to the Retail Price Index, as a result of the sale.

Erudio Student Loans must adhere to strict OFT guidance about treating borrowers fairly which includes particular protections for vulnerable borrowers and those in financial difficulty.

The Student Loans Company publishes statistics on student loan debt in its Statistical First Release (SFR), ‘Student Loans for Higher Education in England’. Information on the outstanding student loan balance (including loans which are not yet due for repayment) at the end of each financial year since 1990-91, when student loans were introduced, is provided in the table. The figures are derived from Table 1(i) of the SFR. Since 2000-01, the publication has been available in digital format from the Student Loans Company (SLC) website at:

http://www.slc.co.uk/statistics/official-statistics-archive.aspx

Copies of earlier publications are available in the Libraries of the House.

Since 2005-06 the Student Loans Company has published the statistics separately for each of the devolved Administrations; a separate series for England is presented in the table from this date.

All eligible students attending full-time courses in the 2014-15 academic year will be able to apply for the full-time maintenance support package. Decisions on the student support package for 2015-16 will be made and announced in the new year in line with the usual timetable.