According to recently released UK government statistics, the number of mortgage repossession orders in England and Wales has risen by 66% compared with the same three month period in 2004 ("Mortgage possession statistics", publ. UK Department for Constitutional Affairs, 2005). This is equivalent to 20,000 repossession orders over 3 months. The DCA figures are based on twice yearly statistics produced by the UK's Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Since the slowdown in house prices in 2004, there has been a commensurate increase of the number of owners being taken to court for mortgage arrears, rising by over a half to nearly 30,000. Most regions of the UK experienced a decreased rate of growth from an average of over 20% at the start of 2004, to just over 2% at the beginning of 2005.

Many economists believe that that this gloomy economic outlook is not as bad as it seems, because the underlying economic factors such as unemployment are still strong, leading to a housing market slowdown rather than a crunch. Consumer confidence is also high, helped by a Bank of England reduction in UK interestrates to 4.5% in August. However, concerns about debt and the housing market still remain, due to the effects of the five successive interest rate rises between the period of November 2003, and August 2004. It should be borne in mind though, that not all court repossession orders result in a real repossession because the homeowner can still often negotiate a deal with the lender. However, the CML has forecast that at least 10,000 homes will be repossessed before the end of 2005.

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Written by: WMG