Ministry of Justice releases repossessions report

18/05/2009

New repossessions figures from courts suggest a decline compared with last year.

The Ministry of Justice said that courts issued 17,054 orders for home repossession over January-March 2009.

This is 39 per cent down on the 29,771 of the same period in 2008.

Another repossessions report covering the first three months of the year was issued by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) last week.

According to that study, which is based on actual repossessions numbers from loan firms, 12,800 properties were taken over the period.

This is up from 8,500 in 2008.

Overall, the CML said that it expects repossessions to increase this year, as more and more people come under financial pressure in the credit crunch and find it harder to pay off their mortgage bills.

The two surveys - although one shows a rise and the other a decline - do not necessarily contradict each other.

This is because the two reports measure different things - the CML records actual repossessions from mortgage customers, while the Ministry of Justice measures repossession orders issued by courts.

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills, Young Family Finances,

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