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Housing repossessions reach 14-year high

The number of people losing their homes hit a 14-year high in 2009 as ultra-low interest rates and government pressure on lenders to go easy on borrowers failed to save those worst hit by the recession.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said that the total number of repossessions in 2009 was 46,000, lower than its 48,000 forecast but still the highest since 1996.

The number declined by 13 per cent in the final three months of the year on the previous quarter, with 10,200 properties taken into possession — or 110 a day.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice showed that the number of mortgage possession claims hitting the courtrooms fell 15.4 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of last year to 20,601 — a 26 per cent annual decline.