New figures released from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) show that the number of consumers that are falling into financial difficulty, as a result of falling into arrears with their mortgage repayments, is on the increase. This has led to a sharp increase in the number of homeowners that are seeking help from debt management specialists, in a bib to avoid total financial ruin.
Between January and March of this year, nearly 13,000 properties were repossessed, which represents an increase over the last three months of 2008, where repossessions numbered just over 10,000. In the first three months of last year, 8,500 properties were repossessed.
What is also worrying is the number of people that are on the verge of repossession, as consumers struggle to make ends meet in a deepening recession. The number of consumers that are in arrears by more than 2.5% of their total mortgage balance has risen by 12%. According to the Council of Mortgage lenders, there are now more than 200,000 people in this position, up from 127,000 for the same three month period in 2008.
Debt advice providers have noticed an influx of homeowners, that are genuinely worried about the possibility of repossession. The proportion of mortgage payers that are now on Debt Management Plans, Trust Deeds or Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) has also risen, compared to this time last year.
It’s not just the mortgage payments that some people have to worry about, as many hard up consumers struggle to get a grip on there unsecured personal loans, credit card debt as well as other house hold expenditure. There are a number of solutions available if you find yourself with chronic debt problems. The best thing to do is to seek advice on ways to get out of debt, before the situation becomes hopeless.
