Next year will see home repossessions rise

Fri, 16 Dec 2011

The number of homes repossessed in the UK is set to rise in 2012, new research has indicated.

Carried out by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), the study noted this figure is likely to escalate from 37,000 this year to 45,000 the next.

In addition, the organisation anticipates mortgage lending and property sales to continue their decline.

Despite the gloomy outlook, the CML said the number of repossessions will not climb as high as that witnessed in 2009 during the height of the recession, nor will it be as great as that seen across the economic downturn of the 1990s.

Bob Pannell, chief economist at the group - whose members include building societies, banks and other mortgage lenders - noted financial pressures have been bearing down on the housing sector for some time.

The industry figure cited higher unemployment and tumbling real incomes as reason for this, adding: "This is likely to unwind some of the improvement in mortgage arrears we have seen over the past two years and lead to a somewhat higher level of possessions in 2012."

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