Repossession figures half

Adam Hewitt • Published 18 Feb 2010 12:00 0 Comments

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COURT orders for repossessions have nearly halved in Reading since the height of the credit crunch, new figures show.

In the final quarter of 2009, there were 30 mortgage possession claims in Reading borough that led to court orders being made, down from 59 in the same period in 2008.

In Wokingham borough the figures fell from 45 to just 15 and in West Berkshire from 35 to 20 over the same period. The figures were released by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), but are collected and compiled by the courts with no political interference.

Housing minister John Healey, who visited Reading last month, was criticised last week when he said repossession was "the best option" for some families. He was speaking in response to figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, showing an increase in repossessions nationally to 46,000. However, these figures are measured in a different way to those used by the courts and are not broken down by region. They also do not cover special circumstances, such as sale and rent-back schemes, which thousands of families are thought to have resorted to.

Council leader Jo Lovelock said: "It's good news if there has been a slow in repossession orders, it means things are picking up and also that people are getting advice to avoid getting to that stage in the first place. There's a meeting next week of the credit crunch steering group of council staff, businesses and the voluntary sector where we'll get more economic indicators. Hopefully there will be more good news."

South East minister Jonathan Shaw urged anyone in difficulty to seek advice, saying: "No-one should be in a position where they stand to lose their home because they did not know about the help available."

Only 51 people in the entire South East were helped through the Mortgage Rescue Scheme last year, but Mr Shaw said this was because there was so much help in place that many homeowners solved their problems before things hit crisis point.

The Government's repossessions helpline is 0808 808 4000, or visit: www.direct.gov.uk/mortgagehelp

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