By Neil Merrick
Home repossessions soared in England last year as more households fell behind with their mortgages.
Home repossessions soared in England last year as more households fell behind with their mortgages.Figures released by the Financial Services Authority on March 17 show 46,750 homes were repossessed in 2008 — up by 68% on the previous year, when mortgage lenders took back 27,900 homes. However, the number of repossessions in the final quarter of 2008 (13,028) was down slightly on the 13,464 recorded in the previous three months.
By the end of last year, 377,000 mortgage accounts were in arrears, 10% more than in the third quarter of 2008 and 31% more than at the end of 2007. The number of new arrears cases rose by 68,000 in the final quarter of last year alone.
The FSA figures were released at the same time as the government highlighted HomeBuy Direct, a scheme for first-time buyers, which is jointly funded by house builders and the Homes and Communities Agency.
The scheme offers interest-free equity loans worth 30% of the cost of a home to purchasers with an income below £60,000. House builder Barratt Homes said this week it had received 20,000 enquiries from people interested in the scheme.
Sir Bob Kerslake, HCA chief executive, said the progress made since the £400m scheme was launched last September was ‘very encouraging for both buyers and the house building industry’.
