By Neil Merrick
Civil courts should do more to stem the increasing tide of home repossessions, a think-tank has said.
Civil courts should do more to stem the increasing tide of home repossessions, a think-tank has said.According to a report from the Centre for Policy Studies, district judges can reduce the number of repossessions by about 30,000 per year by suspending orders at the same rate as in the early-1990s.
Figures published by the Ministry of Justice in November showed that the number of mortgage repossession orders granted in England and Wales rose to 87,100 during the third quarter of 2008. This was up by 21% on the same period the previous year. Figures due later this month are almost certain to show a further rise.
The report, written by housing lawyer Natalie Elphicke, warned that as many as 157,000 repossession orders could be granted both this year and next if current trends continue.
But experience from the previous recession showed that courts could protect families by suspending orders and allowing them to remain in their homes.
The number of orders suspended by courts rose from 47% to 59% between 1990 and early 1994. The report claimed that judges should act sooner and use extra discretion when households are in arrears.
Dismissing the government’s £200m mortgage rescue scheme as largely ineffectual, the report said: ‘The Ministry of Justice should not be reticent in bringing the discretionary powers that are available to the attention of the courts, particularly when this is likely to be so much more effective than the various schemes currently proposed.’
The report, published on February 9, coincides with the release of figures showing that the number of empty homes in England rose by 25,000 to 697,000 in 2008 – the largest annual increase for 17 years.
David Ireland, chief executive of the Empty Homes Agency, called on local authorities and the government to make more effort to bring them back into use. ‘The recession is having a calamitous impact on vacancy levels,’ he said.
‘Big regeneration schemes are stalled, half-finished houses have been abandoned, and normal developments in the market that bring homes back into use have ground to a halt.’
