The Government has announced a new £20 million safety net to help ensure that repossession remains the last resort for struggling mortgage borrowers. According to Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, the Preventing Repossessions Fund gives councils in England the opportunity to offer interest-free loans of less than £5,000, or grants to help ease debt pressures, giving [...]
repossessions
Launch of £20m fund to prevent repossessions
The Government has announced a new £20 million safety net to help ensure that repossession remains the last resort for struggling mortgage borrowers. According to Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, the Preventing Repossessions Fund gives councils in England the opportunity to offer interest-free loans of less than £5,000, or grants to help ease debt pressures, giving [...]
Arrears and repossession down but worse to come
Last year 36,200 homes were taken back by first-charge mortgage lenders, the lowest annual total since 2007, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Buy-to-let properties accounted for 5,900 repossessions in 2011, up from 4,700 in 2010. However, arrears improved across both the buy-to-let and owner-occupier sectors and as 2011 drew to a close, [...]
Arrears and repossession down but worse to come
Last year 36,200 homes were taken back by first-charge mortgage lenders, the lowest annual total since 2007, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Buy-to-let properties accounted for 5,900 repossessions in 2011, up from 4,700 in 2010. However, arrears improved across both the buy-to-let and owner-occupier sectors and as 2011 drew to a close, [...]
CML 2012 housing market forecast
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) expects gross mortgage lending to total around £133 billion in 2012 and net lending (gross lending with repayments and redemptions stripped out) to amount to only £5 billion. The figures compare with estimates of £138 billion for gross lending and £9 billion for net lending for 2011 as a [...]
Repossessions up, arrears down
Latest figures from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) show repossessions rising by 2% in the third quarter of 2011, compared with the previous three month period, with 9,670 homes returned to lenders. However, there were only 34,900 new arrears cases in Q3, down 2% on the previous quarter. As a result, the total number of [...]
Repossessions nudge up
Repossessions have nudged up slightly, with 9,200 homes taken back by mortgage lenders in the three months to the end of September, compared with 9,100 in the previous quarter. However, 27,500 properties have been taken into possession so far this year, with the figure down 4% on the equivalent period of 2010, according to the [...]
Repossessions nudge up
Repossessions have nudged up slightly, with 9,200 homes taken back by mortgage lenders in the three months to the end of September, compared with 9,100 in the previous quarter. However, 27,500 properties have been taken into possession so far this year, with the figure down 4% on the equivalent period of 2010, according to the [...]
Building societies act on repossessions
The distress suffered by mortgage borrowers who end up losing their homes is troubling the Building Societies’ Association (BSA), which wants the Government, lenders and consumer groups to work together to help prevent repossessions. In a new report entitled “A joined-up approach to helping mortgage borrowers”, the BSA will be making its presence felt at [...]
Low interest rates get IMF approval
Mortgage borrowers will be reassured by a new report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that backs the Bank of England’s decision to keep interest rates low, despite rising inflation. According to the IMF, UK inflation will remain above 4% for most of 2011 but return to around 2% towards the end of next year, [...]
Repossessions up but mortgage arrears improve
Repossessions rose 15% in the first three months of 2011, compared with the previous quarter, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). A total of 9,100 properties were taken back by lenders, equating to 0.08% of all loans, but the figure was 10% lower than a year earlier and fell in [...]
Lender forbearance disguises scale of mortgage arrears
The risks faced by the UK’s mortgage lenders have been highlighted by the first Prudential Risk Outlook (PRO) to be published by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). According to the FSA, the lower arrears and repossessions seen during the current downturn, compared with the previous recession, are down to falling mortgage interest rates and lower [...]
Mortgage arrears capitalised at “increasingly rapid rate”
A new report from the Financial Services Authority (FSA) highlights some of the current and emerging risks in the UK mortgage market.
The regulator has published its first Retail Conduct Risk Outlook (RCRO), which seeks to identify potential risks for customers across a range of financial services sectors.
On mortgages, the RCRO notes that in terms of [...]
RICS: house prices to lose 2% in 2011
In its forecast for 2011, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) says it expects UK house prices to finish the year 2% down.
While the value of the average home is likely to continue to slip over the coming months, falling supply should stabilise the market at some stage before July, with prices possibly edging [...]
Repossessions fall to end-2007 levels
New mortgage lending data from the Financial Services Authority show repossessions falling to 9,145 in the third quarter of 2010.
The total represents an 8% decline on the previous three-month period and is at its lowest since the end of 2007.
In addition, the number of new arrears cases fell to 36,600 in Q3, having declined in [...]
