Government gets £1.9bn for second batch of student loans

The government has sold the second tranche of its pre-2012 student loan book for £1.9 billion, it has been announced.

The loans had a face value of £3.7bn, meaning ministers have recouped around 51 pence for each pound. In a written statement released on 4 December, Damian Hinds, the education secretary, said the deal was “good for the taxpayer”.

“It releases money that is tied up and serving no policy purpose, to invest in other policy priorities now, whilst keeping within the spending limits we need to strengthen public finances,” he said. “The sold loans have already been in repayment for over nine years, and therefore a portion of the original value has already been paid back to government.”