Repossessed Property News

Rise in repossessions forecast (February 06, 2008)

Four out of five lenders believe home repossessions will rise this year, according to a new survey, as heavily indebted first-time buyers and buy-to-let investors struggle to meet higher costs.

Moore Blatch, a law firm that specialises in repossession proceedings, said it had seen a significant increase in activity over the past year, and that with house prices falling, most lenders expected this trend to continue.

The group asked a number of lenders, from high street banks to subprime specialists, for their predictions on bad debt. It found that 40 per cent of lenders believed repossessions would rise between 10 and 15 per cent this year, while 8 per cent of lenders anticipated an even sharper rise.

They expected repossessions to be most frequent among first-time buyers and those with 100 per cent mortgages. Almost 70 per cent of lenders thought first-time buyers were vulnerable, while half thought buy-to-let borrowers could run into difficulties. Subprime borrowers and those with self-certification mortgages were also flagged as risky.

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