Repossessions and Arrears Down but Still Vulnerable

Thu, 27 May 2010

UK property repossessions and mortgages fell in the first quarter of 2010.

However, househoulds are still vulnerable as the property market remains fragile.

The most recent Council of Mortgage Lenders figures highlight that repossessions and mortgages going into arrears dropped in the first quarter of 2010.

This should be no cause for complacency as many households are scraping through and remain vulnerable to any more economic shocks. Repossessions dropped from 10,600 in the previous quarter to 9,800 in the first quarter of 2010.

Repossessions comprised 0.09% of total mortgages.

The total proportion of loans with arrears of 2.5% or more of the mortgage balance was 2.38%, down from 2.52% in the previous quarter.

Moreover, the number of loans in arrears declined from 196,400 at the end of 2009 to 186,300.

There is indeed a drop in repossessions and arrears, which goes to suggest that low interest rates and reasonably stable employment have helped to prevent new households get into financial difficulty.

There are of course many households with more serious financial problems who continue to struggle to restore their financial position and repay arrears.

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