The UK property market breathed a sigh of relief yesterday as figures released announced that house repossessions fell by seven and a half per cent for the first quarter of 2010.
After a tough end of 2009 it seems more home owners are asking for help from mortgage rescue schemes and brokering deals with local housing authorities to keep their homes secure. Due to these schemes the Ministry of Justice have released figures which shows that potential repossessions are also falling by about eight per cent from the last quarter.
The current low interest rates mean that households struggling to meet their mortgage repayments are just about clinging on to their homes. Meanwhile homeowners are looking to local housing authorities to help them with their repayments with mortgage rescue schemes. Mortgage brokers are also offering extra support for their borrowers in difficulty.
Mortgage lenders are also reacting positively to mortgage rescue schemes in order to help tackle house repossessions by acknowledging struggling households and putting off repossession action if an application has been put in place. So far there were 1,849 applications lodged at the end of March.
Struggling households have several options to apply for help through mortgage rescue schemes; they can sell their property to their local authority or housing association and rent it back through them directly. An alternative option is for struggling households to broker an equity deal and sell part of the house which would take the form of a loan reduction for the overall mortgage.
