The number of UK house repossessions jumped in the first half of 2008
as the credit crunch and the resultant tighter lending conditions take
their toll on homeowners, figures showed.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders said the number of properties taken
into possession in the first six months of the year was 18,900, up 41
percent from 13,400 in the second half of 2007 and representing 0.16
percent of all loans. The figure represents a 48 percent increase from
12,800 in the same period last year.
The possession rate now is similar to that of the late 1990s, though
it remains less than half the rate experienced in the early 1990s, the
CML said.
The figures also showed the number of households with arrears of three
months or more jumped to 155,600 at the end of the first half of the
year from 129,600 at the end of 2007 and 120,800 at the end of the
first half of last year.
The arrears rate stood at 1.33 percent of all mortgages by the end of
the first half, up from 1.10 percent at the end of 2007 and 1.02
percent at the end of the first half of last year, the CML said.
The CML is maintaining its forecast of 45,000 total possessions and
170,000 mortgages in arrears of more than three months by the end of
the year.
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