Abacus Daily Debt News

UK Insolvency comments on repossession figures

The UK Insolvency Helpline has spoken out about the Council for Mortgage Lenders’ revised predictions for the total number of repossessions in the UK, stating that people are keeping up with repayments but not making headway with the actual debt.

Ian Boden-Smyth of the money advice organisation noted that the decrease in the number of repossessions currently being seen is due to the fact that people are "doing it on interest only", with debtors only being able to afford to pay the interest on their loans.

He voiced concerns that the UK will soon be a nation of borrowers who "do not own their properties at the end of their term".

Mr Boden-Smyth suggested that people wait until they have a large enough deposit in order to take advantage of the "base rate tracker mortgage available" but also stated that, if it is cheaper to rent and this can be done over the long-term, "don’t drive yourself mad".

The new forecast from the CML indicated that 2009’s repossession figures have dropped from 75,000 to 48,000.

By Sarah Adie