Millions of homeowners unable to move house

About 3.5 million homeowners are unable to move due to a lack of equity in their home or because they would struggle to get a mortgage, according to the mortgage broker John Charcol.

An estimated 2 million households are currently thought to have less than a 10 per cent equity stake in their property or be in negative equity. A further 500,000 homeowners have only a 10 to 15 per cent equity stake in their property and about 1 million have a sub-prime or self-certification mortgage which they would be unable to renew if they moved.