Mortgage repossessions have soared in Shropshire as people struggle to cope with levels of personal debt, latest figures have revealed.
Statistics showing the increase in the number of people who have lost their homes came just 24 hours after the Insolvency Agency reported a record number of personal bankruptcies among householders across England and Wales.
In Shropshire the number of house repossession orders issued by the county courts rose by 21 per cent from 156 last year to 189 this year. Shrewsbury County Court saw its total double from 26 to 52.
The regional figures for mortgage repossessions were released last night by the Liberal Democrats, whose Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, said: “With increased council tax, higher interest rates and winter fuel bills, this problem is only going to get worse.
“While repossessions remain below the levels seen in the early 1990s, there are clearly big problems ahead.”
Mr Cable said the figures demonstrated the absence of an adequate safety net in the mortgage market.
“There is currently a considerable degree of irresponsible lending and aggressive marketing to individuals.
“Banks and building societies need to ensure that when individuals take out mortgages they are fully aware of the risks, and that quality insurance products are available.”
Mr Cable said the Government should be actively working with the financial services industry to achieve a national roll-out of independent advice centres to give people early access to checks on the health of their finances.
The figures were released just days after mortgage lenders said they were considering offering as much as five or seven times an applicant’s salary because house prices are now out of reach of most first-time buyers.
And the country’s big spenders have been warned they are stumbling into a debt catastrophe. A record number of people have declared themselves unable to pay what they owe and banks and credit card companies have been blamed for making debt worse.
Figures from the Insolvency Service show the number of Britons declared bankrupt has leapt by more than a quarter in the past three months to 15,416.
By John Hipwood
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