Last year saw 46,000 struggling borrowers have their homes snatched by lenders, as repossessions reached a 14-year high last year. The figures came from the Council of Mortgage Lenders and mark not just a 15 per cent increase from 2008 figures, but also the highest annual repossessions since 1995.
2009 also saw more than 188,000 borrowers end up behind on their mortgage payments and were in arrears of at least 2.5 per cent of their outstanding debt, according to The Independent.
Michael Coogan, the director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, told The Independent: ?The fact that mortgage arrears and possessions did not rise as much as we feared in 2009 is testament to the effect of low interest rates, and a great deal of concerted effort by lenders, government and the advice sector to help borrowers to address financial difficulties when they occur.?
However, James Moss of Curzon Investment Property, a boutique investment agent, said that people shouldn?t buy into the lenders? positive spin: ?The downturn in the housing market has kept people in their homes. If more banks thought they could profit from re-selling homes of those defaulting on mortgages the chances are more people would be affected.?
If there is some consolation, it?s that the final three months of 2009 saw the number of homes repossessed down by 13 per cent on the third quarter, at 10,200. The CML has forecast 53,000 repossessions this year though, saying times are about to get tougher, with The Independent also stating unemployment is at 2.4 million and 1,400 people are made redundant every day.
