Council of Mortgage Lenders' figures to show increase in home repossessions » Housing » 24dash.com

Figures released today are expected to show an increase in the number of people who lost their homes during the third quarter of the year.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders is due to publish data showing both the number of people in the UK who are in mortgage arrears and the number who have had their homes repossessed during the three months.

It is the first time that the CML has published this data on a quarterly basis.

The group said it had decided to release the figures every three months to bring it in line with the Ministry of Justice, which also publishes data on repossessions today.

The number of people who have lost their homes has been steadily increasing since 1996, and the figures are expected to continue to worsen as the economy further deteriorates and increasing numbers of people are made redundant.

Around 18,900 homes were taken over by lenders during the first six months of the year according to the CML, the highest figure for 12 years, and the group has estimated that a total of 45,000 people will lose their homes during 2008.

If its prediction proves to be right, this would be the highest figure since 1995.

The Government has launched a range of initiatives to help people who cannot keep up with their mortgage stay in their home.

These include enabling them to sell their home and rent it back from a social landlord, or enter into a shared equity or shared ownership scheme on their property.

A new pre-action protocol also came into force on Wednesday in which the courts must stop repossession actions unless all alternatives to keep people in their home have failed.

Today's figures published by the CML cover arrears and repossession data for its members across the UK.

The Ministry of Justice figures show the number of possession orders that have been made in courts in England and Wales by all lenders. Some of these orders are suspended and not all of them lead to a home being repossessed.

The Insolvency Service published figures earlier this month which showed that 27,087 people were made insolvent during the third quarter, 8.8% more than in the previous three months.

They also showed that a record 17,341 people were made bankrupt during the period on a seasonally adjusted basis.