Repossessions and Arrears Drop
Repossessions and Arrears Drop
Repossessions have fallen to a record low and mortgage arrears have also dropped.
The amount of properties that were repossessed has more than halved over the year to the second quarter (Q2) of 2015.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), 2,500 properties were repossessed in Q2, down from the 5,400 in Q2 2014.
Of the 2,500, 1,800 were owner-occupied and 700 owned by buy-to-let investors.
The total number of borrowers with arrears of 2.5% or more of the outstanding balance was 106,400 in Q2, this is 0.96% of all mortgages, and is down 17.4% annually from 128,900.
Of the 106,400 borrowers in serious arrears, 100,700 were owner-occupiers and 5,700 in the buy-to-let sector.
Director General of the CML, Paul Smee, comments on the decreases: “This trend is very welcome. Low interest rates are acting as a significant support for homeowners in general, and are likely to be helping to stave off low level arrears for stretched households in particular.”1
1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/repossessions-fall-to-record-low-and-arrears-dip/