Home repossession claims have rocketed across Shropshire in just six months as the financial crisis deepens, new figures reveal.
Ministry of Justice statistics show claims made as part of the first step of the repossession of properties in the county totalled 550 from January to June.
In the Shrewsbury area alone the number has more than doubled from the same period last year.
The claims were issued in county courts in Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Oswestry and Telford from January to June.
Estate agents in Shropshire today also revealed how many homeowners were facing eviction.
Barbers in Market Drayton said it had seen the number double in 12 months, with the biggest increase in the last three months.
Branch manager Gail Furnival said it carried out about six repossessions in 2007 - but had already done 12 this year.
She said: “Some have been through redundancy and others have an absolute mountain of debt, not just through their mortgage.”
Council housing officials today said some people were begging for help to avoid court action by lenders.
The claims are the first stage of a repossession process and many do not end with a property being repossessed.
The figures show there were 146 claims made in Shrewsbury in the first six months of 2008 - a 52 per cent increase on the same period in 2007.
Telford had the largest number of claims, with 320 from January to June, a nine per cent increase.
It also saw the largest number of possession orders issued by the court. In the first six months of the year there were 257 orders made - up 21 per cent on last year.
A court order for possession entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have a defendant evicted.
However, even when a warrant is issued the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction.
Malcolm Price, Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council portfolio holder for housing, said many homeowners were seeking advice from the authority over a new Government scheme to help with their mortgages.
He said: “They are asking us ‘will we buy a share of their property so they don’t get evicted?’.”
By Russell Roberts
10 Comments
If repossessions are rocketing already, it just shows how many stupid people have taken on debt they couldnt afford. It says the financial crises deepens, but its only just begun. Interest rates are still low compared to 20 years ago, the current problems are all down to over zealous banks lending to stupid people who couldnt really afford it.
I wonder how many of these ’soaring’ reposessions are actually genuine homeowners losing their only mortgaged property, or instead perhaps buy-to-let properties owned by investors who’ve overstretched themselves?
After all, the mortgages deemed most at risk of defaulting are those from the buy to let market, and the lenders most vulnerable to the market were those who made these risky loans a large part of their portfolio.
A little bit of sensationalism from the Star here I suspect.
who cares about the plebs, both my houses are safe thats what counts for me
No Peter
The Country is in terminal decline!
I do not understand why these money lenders can’t see the obvious solution to this problem. Offer the people in trouble a way out.
Have them pay a rent on the property that they can afford, adjustable as things change, until the ‘government caused recession’ is over.
Then they begin to pay their mortgage again. Some may well be able to afford to pay a rent and a part of the mortgage. I dunno, seems like an idea to me. At least that way the people don’t lose their homes, and the money grabbers, sorry, lenders, don’t get lumbered with hundreds of properties they can’t sell at a price they are actually worth.
things are really serious, rbs/nat west lost nearly half its value on the stock market today, the icelandic economy is in deep decline and most of their banks are in trouble.
richard branson is telling the bank of england to reduce interest rates on thursday by 1% and implying those with funds of over 50,000 should move their money to irish banks for safety. oh dear, tut indeed
I coundnt care less! I paid my mortgage off.
Tory Boy, thanks for making me smile with your excellent posts! However, I have a feeling that many of the readers on this forum will not recognise irony when they see it, and will think you’re for real.
Drew,
We are suffering as part of a global recession, caused, as are all recessions, by the greed of global capitalism.
But, we still have higher numbers of people in employment than we have had for a long time, and although any genuine repossession is a tragedy for the family or individual concerned, we still have far lower levels of repossesion than we did in the 1980s following previous house price booms.
Perhaps the biggest mistake the current government has made is to follow conservative policies rather than sticking to traditional Labour values. We’re now seeing where uncontrolled capitalism has taken us - I can’t imagine why anyone would want to vote for an even stronger version of it.
But we are not in terminal decline - and you have presented no evidence to support that.
Wonderfully selfish attitude sue. You clearly dont understand the implications of what is happening.
Surely even a fool can see that if the Government is bailing out the banks to the tune of billions of pounds, we are all going to suffer because of it. There will be higher taxes, and less money for pensions etc. Lets see if you’re still ‘caring less’ in 12 months time.