House Repossessions - Annual Comparables

The figure shown is an annual comparison of the level of house repossessions from this time last year.

Borrowers currently struggling to meet mortgage payments can conceal their problems for many months or possibly years by choosing to fall behind on other credit payments or household bills while maintaining their mortgage payments. In addition borrowers have far more choice as to how they manage their finances and have much greater access to more flexible mortgage lenders who are keen to provide a service to customers with credit problems.
These borrowers can refinance or consolidate existing debt and continue without any real deterioration in overall arrears.

A reduction in supply of available loans for riskier borrowers combined with higher mortgage pricing in this sector would inevitably lead to substantially higher arrears than shown in the aggregate figures. For this reason direct comparison with the developments in the late 1980’s should be treated with care particularly given the absence of mortgage tax relief and the lack of mortgage payment insurance today compared to the late 1980’s.