Fall in House Prices Means Drop in Repossessions

Tue, 30 Aug 2011

There have been 310 mortgage possession orders between April and June 2011, that is the final stage prior to having your property repossessed .

This is lowest quarterly figure since the final quarter of 2005 when there were only 295 orders.

According to Mark Ellison, Kent service manager for the housing charity Shelter, the low number may be due to mortgage lenders wanting a better return on the properties they sell following repossession .

Mortgage lenders are much more likely to hold off and repossess properties when house prices are on the increase rather than when they are falling.

"It’s not surprising and is just one of the ways in which lenders operate. It’s always a good thing when people are allowed to stay in their homes."

Nationally the number of homes repossessed by mortgage lenders fell slightly in the first half of the year, from 9,100 in the first quarter to 9,000 in the second.

But industry experts predict the figures will rise for the rest of the year to bring an estimated total of 40,000 repossessions.

Chris Gardner, director of independent mortgage broker Obligo, said: "The current figures are being kept artificially low by two important factors – the interest rate is at a historic low and lenders have shown remarkable forbearance.

"Together they have created a fool’s paradise, where people’s mortgage payments are comparatively low and lenders are being especially tolerant of late payers.

"But lenders’ forbearance cannot last forever. If they change their approach then the rug will quickly be pulled from under many late payers, leading to thousands more repossessions ."

When landlord possession orders are also taken into account for people who rent their properties, there are exactly 800 households currently at risk of repossession in Kent and 205 in Medway.

Mr Ellison revealed that Shelter now offered debt advice to help people in danger of losing their homes, with services based in Ashford, Chatham and Dover.

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