Friday August 8, 12:00 PM
Huge Jump In Mortgage Arrears
By Sky News
The number of homeowners with mortgage arrears has leapt by almost a third the past year. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) says the the number of UK homes repossessed has also risen sharply.
It has jumped to 18,900 - its highest
level for 12 years.
The CML predicts a total of 45,000 homes will be repossessed by the end of 2008 if the trend continues.
It says many borrowers are finding it increasingly difficult to repay their mortgages as a result of higher interest rates.
But it stressed this was still low in the context of the entire mortgage market and less than half that experienced amid the housing market crash of the early 1990s.
Today's figures also reveal that the number of mortgages three months or more in arrears has risen by 29% year on year to 155,600 at the end of the first half.
This is equivalent to 1.33% of all home loans, although the number of mortgages more than six months in arrears was 0.58%.
Housing charity Shelter said today's figures were "shocking", adding that hard-pressed homeowners are also now only given state help after nine months, too late to prevent many from losing their homes, it claimed.
Chief executive Adam Sampson said: "Behind these figures are thousands of families facing sleepless nights worrying about how to make their next mortgage payment, and many thousands more will be waking up to the frightening reality of repossession.
"The government urgently needs to step in to prevent thousands more families from losing their homes and provide the significant financial support troubled homeowners need to keep a roof over their head."
The CML recently set out plans to minimise the number of people who have their homes repossessed as the figures soar higher following the credit crunch.
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