Re possession figures improve

13/11/2009

The number of people thought to have had their houses re-possessed this year is expected to be far less than previously thought.

According to the Ministry of Justice the property possession orders made were just over 17 thousand in the third quarter of the year.

This shows a decrease of 9 per cent on the previous three months and 35 per cent down on the 2008 figures.

In September around 195,000 mortgages were in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more of the total balance of the loan, this is down from 204,000 at the end of June.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist said that the figures were partly due to the result of low cost borrowing, which is easing the pressure on household finances.

Kevin Still director of debt management company EuroDebt says "It is encouraging that the levels of serious mortgage arrears'>mortgage arrears have reduced as well as the number of re-possessions.

We hope that many people are using reduced interest rates to clear arrears and re-prioritise their expenditure to ensure that their home is not put at risk.

Lenders seem to responding to the challenge of treating customers with genuine financial difficulties more fairly.

These figures don't mean that we are out of the woods, as dealing with priority arrears is just the beginning and many still have serious problems dealing with unmanageable unsecured debts."

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