The Financial ServicesAuthority (FSA) defines “subprime” mortgages as those “targeted at consumers withimpaired or low credit ratings who may find it difficult to obtain finance fromtraditional sources”.Data are availablefor those with impaired credit ratings but not for those with low credit ratings.In the year to June 2007, the FSA found that 6,953 mortgages arranged in Scotlandwere in cases where the main, second or other borrower had an impaired credit history.This represents 3.5% of the total number of mortgages (200,261) issued in Scotlandover that period.