The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have released new figures showing a dramatic rise in the rate of home repossession, with 48% more properties taken into repossession in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2007. In total, 18,900 homes were seized.

The number of mortgage payers in arrears was also up sharply, rising 29% to 155,600.

While the CML acknowledged that the figures were likely to continue to get worse, a spokesperson stressed that the number of homeowners facing real problems was still small when compared to the 11.75 million open mortgages in the UK, and that the hardest hit mortgage payers were those with sub-prime deals which have become more expensive  and harder to obtain because of the credit crunch.

A new report predicts that 1.7m mortgage payers could face negative equity within the next year, as house prices continue to slide.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor (S&P) predict that prices will fall a further 17% over the next year, resulting in 14% of UK mortgage holders finding that their home was worth less than their outstanding mortgage balance.

The current number of households in negative equity is around 70,000 or around 0.7% of homeowners.

New figures from the Council of Mortgage lenders make uneasy reading for mortgage payers struggling to make ends meet, with a 21% rise in house repossessions last year compared to 2006. In all, 27,100 homes were seized, up from 22,400 the previous year.

(more…)

The number of home repossession actions has risen by 22% compared to last year, according to new figures released by the government. The report also shows a rise of 15% between June and October compared to the previous quarter.

(more…)

A survey by national charity Citizens Advice estimates that 770,000 Britons have missed one or more mortgage repayments over the past year, with many holding a mistaken belief that going into arrears didn’t pose a risk to their homes.

(more…)