UK repossessions fall in second quarter

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has today announced a fall in the number of homes repossessed in the second quarter of the year compared with the previous three months.

According to the CML, 11,400 homes were repossessed in the second quarter of the year. While this was a rise of 14% compared with the same period in 2008, it was down 10% compared with the first quarter of the year.

It was feared that rising unemployment would lead to a sharp rise in repossessions but historically low interest rates, increased lender tolerance and Government rescue schemes are helping, said the group.

The CML has predicted 65,000 people will have their properties repossessed during the year - a 17-year high. While this is 10,000 less than the estimate it made late last year, it is still considerably higher than the 40,000 homes repossessed in 2008.

Meanwhile, there were 205,600 homeowners in arrears of more than 2.5% of their outstanding mortgage debt at the end of June - this represents 1.85% of outstanding mortgages.

Commenting on today’s figures, the CML’s head of policy Jackie Bennett, said: “With unemployment rising and the economy still weak, the outlook will remain challenging for the rest of this year and into 2010.”

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