A north-south divide has emerged in housing repossession figures, according to a study by e.surv.
The survey looked at repossession rates in every area of the country during the second half of 2011 and found a divide had emerged throughout the UK.
The study found repossessions were highest in Greater Yorkshire, the M62 corridor and the North East. Public sector job cuts were blamed for the increased number of repossessions in these areas.
Northern towns and cities such as Bradford, Chester, Darlington, Doncaster, Durham and Oldham were highlighted as suffering the highest levels of repossessions in the country, with some recording rates 60% higher than the national average.
The South and South East saw fewest repossessions but some areas bucked the north-south divide. East London was singled out as an area with high figures while South Wales was noted as an area with few repossessions taking place.
Galashiels in Northumberland also bucked the national trend, attracting a single repossession per 10,000 households, the lowest level in the UK.
Richard Sexton, business development director of e.surv, commented: "Spending cuts, negative real wage growth, falling house prices and public sector unemployment have hit the north much harder than the south.
"This has opened up a gaping geographical divide in repossessions levels. With local economies in the north declining faster than their southern counterparts, proportionally more northern borrowers have struggled to keep up with their mortgage repayments, and banks have been forced to repossess more homes.
"The South and South East, with a bigger proportion of the workforce employed in the private sector, haven't been left as groggy by the economic blows dealt by the government's austerity programme."
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