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Mortgage arrears and possessions continue to fall

vickyhartley
Written By:
vickyhartley
Posted:
Updated:
08/05/2014

Mortgage accounts in arrears fell to their lowest level since the second quarter of 2008, according to Council of Mortgage Lender (CML) figures, with repossessions also 20% down on last year.

In the first quarter, the number of residential and buy-to-let mortgages in arrears fell across the bands, including the most serious with 1 in 400 mortgages with arrears equivalent to 10% or more of the mortgage balance.

At 138,200 and 1.24%, both the number and proportion of mortgages with arrears of more than 2.5% of the mortgage balance fell to their lowest point since the second quarter of 2008.

These numbers compare with 144,600 and 1.29% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2013.

Repossessions rose in the usual seasonal pattern to 6,400, up from 6,100 in the Q4 2013, but remain substantially down year-on-year.

However, Ministry of Justice figures show some of the most aggressive repossession tactics from landlords in years. The number of landlord possession claims in County Courts hit the highest quarterly figure in over a decade after increasing by 26% to 170,453 in 2013 and to 47,220 in Q1 2014.

CML director general Paul Smee said: “Lenders fully recognise that behind the numbers, these are real households, with differing circumstances. Lenders try to ensure that all borrowers are treated fairly and sensitively.

“They continue to improve their practices to try to achieve the best outcomes when payment problems do occur. Combined with low interest rates and an improving jobs market, these strategies are clearly helping many households.”