Slump of 1990s meant a rude awakening for the 'Loadsamoney' generation

WHILE the Duke and Duchess of York were putting the final touches to their divorce settlement and satirical magazine Punch was closed down for the first time, most British homeowners were distracted. For, amid the crumbling economy, where job losses were spiralling and the government was warning of recession, the spectre of "negative equity" began to loom.

In Scotland, however, things were a little brighter.

While the rest of the country was suffering from the hangover of the "Loadsamoney" 1980s, the majority of Scots homeowners were sitting smugly.

Few Scots got caught up in the property boom of the late 1980s - meaning that, when prices rebounded in 1992, only a small number were left in negative equity.

The situation occurs when the value of an asset used to secure a loan - in this case a home - is less than the outstanding balance on a loan owed to a bank or building society, causing particular problems for homeowners who need to move over the following 12 months, or for anyone who may lose their jobs in the near future.

However, despite avoiding the problem in the 1990s, Scotland has not escaped the situation entirely. At the height of the most recent property crash, in spring 2009, an estimated 100,000 households in Scotland were thought to be in negative equity.