January 23, 2012
Three of the UK’s biggest mortgage specialists claim that judging by figures from late 2011, repossessions will rise in 2012 as the country’s gloomy property market continues to stall.
Homeloan Management Limited Business Intelligence believes repossessions will rise by 7% in 2012, before starting to fall back in 2013, while data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that 27,500 properties were repossessed towards the end of last year, and the figure was expected to reach 37,000 at the beginning of 2012.
The CML also warned that repossessions could reach 45,000 by the end of 2012 because there were 27,300 loans with arrears of more than 10 per cent of the outstanding balance.
In addition, the Financial Service Authority’s mortgage lending data for the third quarter of 2011 showed arrears cases were down slightly, but the number of new possessions in the quarter rose by 2% to 9670 with arrears totalling £38m.
“It is impossible to be sanguine about the future influences that households may face,” said Paul Smee, Director General of the CML.
With more and more organisations predicting a negative outlook for 2012, homeowners struggling meet mortgage repayments have been advised to seek help as soon as possible. If you’re worried about what the next 12 months will bring, contact us today.
