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Repossessions Will Rise

house of cards picI’ve been wondering lately about how much longer the banks can hold out before they decide to start offloading their bad debts.

Many might not realise it, but banks have been pretty lenient with borrowers over the last couple of years.

With the new government gearing up to announce their cuts  in October, it’s clear that several are planned which will effect mortgage borrowers.

The latest forecast from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) predicts there will be 53,000 repossessions in 2010, but a new study has warned that home repossessions could mount to 175,000 in 2012.


Quote:

Delroy Corinaldi, director of external affairs at Consumer Credit Counselling Service says;

“The recovery of the housing market may lead to previously merciful lenders beginning to enforce suspended possession orders,” and “There is no doubt that lenders have shown leniency towards debtors during the recession. However, this leniency may have been partly determined by the markets.”

A Few Facts

  1. Interest rates WILL go up at some point. Experts suggest it will be the latter part of 2011.
  2. It’s likely that unemployment will go up due to the cuts, some predict by up to 11.4% ( worse case scenario.)
  3. The mortgage rescue scheme, (where you can sell part of your property to a local council or housing association via a shared equity deal so that  mortgage payments are reduced, ) will face cuts from 65% to 55%. ( The scheme was heralded by the previous government as a ‘lifeline’ which would help up to  6,000 people. Latest figures show that a paltry 629 households were helped. Woopee! a resounding success then.)
  4. The mortgage interest payments scheme (for those out of work ) will be halved from 6.08 to 3.09 % -bringing it into line with the Bank of England’s average mortgage rate.

mortgage-rescue-schemeAlthough repossession numbers have fallen in the past six months, experts think that we may now be at the low point in the cycle and that numbers may start to climb later in the year. Remember, that banks have been holding on to stock of homes instead of releasing them to the market.

Lenders will soon run out of ways to help mortgage borrowers, and in my opinion, this particular rug could well be pulled away at any time.

The Bank of England have been playing a game of “rob Peter to pay Paul” for some time by bailing out the government and those who borrowed willy nilly and by stealing from savers and investors. Money is leaving the country, and this is bad news.

A large proportion of the much talked about ‘growth’ came from government spending. I’m sure we all remember good old Gordy B saying we should “spend our way out of recession”. Many folks gambled on an ever increasing property value to use as a get out of jail free card. Reality has to hit the market and price corrections will have to follow as the house of cards comes crashing down in the next breeze.

We are already seeing reports that agents are encouraging vendors to be ‘more realistic’ with their asking prices in many areas and that prices are falling.

The fact remains that UK property is vastly overvalued and largely unaffordable, and at some point that has to change, and no amount of tinkering around the edges can alter that.


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  • Sarah Wilkins

    The housing and new homes market has undergone huge changes over the last few years to try and stabilise the market (some good some bad) and largely it has helped first time buyers. I have seen funding run out, funding withdrawn and huge cuts in funding and this only causes distress in the market place. Those that have been lucky enough to be helped may not see the benefit of such schemes lasting forever, I agree inevitably interest rates will go up and many will be in trouble and at risk of losing their homes………especially with the inevitable rise in unemployment. Its hard to remain positive but on the new homes side Developers have land they need to develop and sell and people always want to buy (although is this a gamble?). I sincerely hope the government led schemes have not assisted those that are heading for reposession over the next few years due to the economy.

    • http://www.mypropertymentor.co.uk/ Roberta Ward

      Thanks for commenting @SLWilkins, yes, its very gloomy, but we really have been storing up trouble for a while now. Basically the previous govt were more interested in keeping it all at bay so they had a chance of winning an election. Tinkering by those who loved rules and did not want to face reality was bound to cause trouble in the long run.

  • http://www.pagroupuk.com Keith

    What are your thoughts on those with interest only mortgages? I have friends with an interest only loan, taken out in 2007, 5 year deal, no alternative repayment method. The house is now worth less than the mortgage and they will have to renew the deal or switch to variable in the next 2 years. I have been reading that the banks are reluctant to lend on this basis now, will they refuse to renew or switch to varible or even force to move over to a repayment? Can a family with no defaults, just cant afford a repayment loan, lose their home because there is no visible repayment of the capital? And surely the long term trend is up? so over the period of the loan the house will rise in value and cover the loan?

    • http://www.mypropertymentor.co.uk/ Roberta Ward

      Well, Im not a mortgage broker,but its likely the bank would look at trying to get them to pay down some of the debt if they intend to stay. So that means some form of repayment/ partial repayment. Hmm I dont know whether they would seek to repossess, in most cases they only do that as a last resort.It might be worth the family in question giving the bank a call with their worries and see if they cant start looking at overpaying perhaps in the interim if they can afford it? Always better to ask first and not let it linger.
      What they may do is offer another fixed perhaps on a longer term? I really dont know at the moment. In two years lots could have changed in the mortgage market though, so its a bit of a stab in the dark at this point really.

    • mortgage_mind

      Hi there Keith i am a mortgage broker in London and have been in the game for over 10 years now. We are certainly seeing some changes given the recent credit crunch recently and affordabillity and repayment of mortgages is something our governing body the FSA (Financial Services Authority) are big on at the moment. the general conscensous is that new borrowing over a certain percentage (75% is a pretty generic threshold) must be taken as repayment or interest only WITH A REPAYMENT VEHICLE THAT CAN BE EVIDENCED. The days of pure interest only are very few and far between at the moment although there are lenders still doing this. Whist it is impossible to say what your friends situation is without conducting a full review, i would suggest the best instance here will be to role on to the lendrs variable rate. depending on the lender they may find their interest rate will drop considerably anyway given they were in a five year fixed. Most variables are pretty low right now. There is small print in mortgage offer saying that the loan can be called in at any point, but as it was offered on an interest only basis it will remain valid until the end of the full mortgage term which would INCLUDE rolling on to the variable rate. IF they wish to change to a new product, then it would be a case of needing a repayment vehicle but if they stay where they are and just let it roll off, i would suggest it would be fine. I would be mroe than happy to talk it through if there are any major concerns here. Hope that helps.

  • http://www.mypropertymentor.co.uk/ Roberta Ward

    HI Keith-(@pagroupuk) just to let you know there is an answer to your mortgage question on the blog/ http://mypropertymentor.co.uk/2010/07/repo…

  • Sam

    Roberta I agree – we are starting to see some repos coming through from the early part of 2008 – but in my opinion there are many more being stored up by by lenders. I believe we will start to see more coming onto the market shortly.

    • http://www.mypropertymentor.co.uk/ Roberta Ward

      Yes, they have been holding them for quite some time and under instructions not to release them, but they will trickle out eventually no matter what, and if interest rates rise, many more will be on the horizon. Thanks for your comment Sam.(@VirtualLetz )

  • http://twitter.com/housingdabble Ben Harris

    Nice blog Roberta and I think you are right that the patience can only last so long. With schemes ending and rates only able to go one way we are certain to see an increase in repossessions and they can't store them up forever. When lenders manage this process well (i.e price them to sell in 2-4 weeks) it also has a negative impact on the rest of the stock which, as you say, is already in the main vastly overvalued.

    All the signs are in place for a pretty painful next 12-18months for the industry in terms of prices and transaction volumes.

    • http://www.mypropertymentor.co.uk Roberta

      Yes, I do feel we have just been storing up trouble for later by allowing prices to continue to rise in some areas. Its such a ‘false recovery.’ It made my blood boil every time I heard the last govt going on about green shoots and recovery, when its clear to anyone with half a brain that that was pure political spin. We are in for a VERY bumpy ride IMHO. Lets hope we learn something from it long term.

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