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Citizens Advice responds to repossession statistics

11/08/2008

Following figures on mortgage arrears and repossessions released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) last week, Citizens Advice has said it is "concerned".

The advisory group said it had seen a 35 per cent increase of people with mortgage arrears in England and Wales in the first two months of this year, compared to the same period last year.

It has said lenders must do more to help people with debt management problems.

Lenders should be "treating borrowers in arrears fairly and sympathetically, being willing to negotiate with borrowers in trouble and only using court action as a last resort," according to the organisation.

Furthermore, the government should assist people on low incomes and strengthen rules to only allow court action as a last resort for recouping money, it said.

Last week the CML predicted there would be 45,000 possessions and 170,000 mortgages in arrears of over three months by the end of 2008.

Some Scottish house prices still rising 20/11/2008 - Amidst economic gloom and high levels of personal debt, house Energy suppliers’ biggest profits ‘from poor’ 20/11/2008 - Consumer Focus, the new consumer watchdog, has claimed that energy Rise in bankruptcies and IVAs 20/11/2008 - There were 27,087 individual insolvencies in the third quarter of Supermarket price rises ‘far above inflation’ 20/11/2008 - The latest inflation report from the Office for National Statistics