They should make negative equity the problem of the LENDER by law. If there is a house price crash, the loan is reduced to 100% of the house value as assesed by a 3rd party. That way we wouldn't get silly loans in the first place - the very loans that help inflate the market for starters. It's very simple and would stop irresponsible "it can only go up" lending

Growler, Beaconsfield,

Some properties near Uxbridge West London (aimed at the FTB market) took 14 years to recover. Who wants to live in a studio flat for that length of time? It will be these kinds of properties aimed at the FTB's and the BTL's that will be the hardest hit.

Melanie, South Yorkshire,

Negative equity means that if you sell your house and are unable to cover the mortgage with the proceeds you are still liable for the rest.

Michael Moore was saying that the house is the security not the person. That means once the house has been handed over to the lender the debt is canceled no matter how much the lender is able to sell the house for.

It ought to make lenders more wary but if that's what happens in the US it clearly didn't.

Caroline, Bristol, England

Surely if you have a 120 or 125% mortgage then negative equity is your banks problem not yours. Without any other assets bankruptcy would be a far preferable option to paying the money back for a house which has been repossed from you.

russell, valletta, malta

Well John of Norfolk, the answer is to do what some States of the United States do. That is when you take out the mortgage your end liability is that house. Should the mortgage company foreclose on you, then they have no further recourse to the debt.

This is unlike the UK situation where the mortgage company can come after you after repossesssion for any outstanding money. In fact the US government can treat this as a capital gan for taxation purposes!

I like some of the US system and think it would make mortgage lenders in the UK far more responsible in future, especially when can see with hinsight the effects in the US system.

neill, Maidstone, UK

Michael Moore, a mortgage is a loan to a home buyer. You owe the lender what you have borrowed irrespective of the current value of your house. Being secured on the house simply means that upon default the lender can sell your home to repay the loan, or in your case part of the loan.

A Harris, Kettering, UK

How do you "oulaw" negative equity? (Michael Moore's comment). Make people sell their homes before it happens? Or execute them?

John of Norfolk, Norfolk,

Provided that recent (first time) house buyers can afford their mortgage payments, negative equity is irrelevant. The mortgage payments should be seen as rent. History shows that house prices recover over time into positive equity. A house is not just for Christmas, it's for life (well almost).

Ross Connell, Guildford, UK

The article saying the nations housing stock is worth £4 trillion assumes that evert house is worth the full asking price.If everyone wanted to sell at the same time in order to have real money there would be very few buyers,so this value of £4 trillion could never be turned into actual cash.It exists on paper,but isn't real money.However,the £1.4 trillion is real and as to be paid back by real money,not imaginary money.It is worth remembering that the share value of the NR was over £10 this time last year.Now nobody would buy the whole company for £10 if you take the £26 billion owed the the BOE into account.

Stephen Hulton, Eure, France

"Negative equity" should be outlawed, as it is in the USA.

Has it ever been challenged in court? The mortgage security is the house, not the person.

Michael Moore, Stockport, England

On the front page of this website you have the headlines "Value of Britain's homes tops £4 trillion for first time". Great house prices are on the way back up.... Followed closely underneath with "Spectre of negative equity looms for first-timers" hold on, looks like they going to crash... and finally "House prices stage comeback" No, it's ok, house prices going back up again. Truth is nobody knows what's going on. Least it makes good reading

jackboy, london,