After working hard for 40 years, Shropshire construction worker Terence Cotterill was laid off and faces having his home repossessed. He talks to Ben Bentley.

It’s been just four short months since lifelong construction worker Terence Cotterill was laid off from the job he’s done day in, day out for the past 40 years.

Now, “in the blink of an eye”, he faces losing the very thing he has worked for all that time: the roof over his head.

“It’s very distressing,” says 56-year-old family man Terence, from Telford.

“You work all your life and you could lose it all like that. I’ve used all my money now. You put a bit away for a rainy day, but the bit that we had we have had to use to live.”

The tragic thing is that Terence is not alone. His story is an unremarkable one, largely because there are thousands of other people like him right now, all struggling to keep hold of the family home as a result of an economic downturn of someone else’s making.

Terence’s struggle to keep a roof over his head comes amid fears of “an avalanche” of home repossessions this year. Figures from the Council for Mortgage Lenders show a 54 per cent increase to 40,000 in the number of families who lost their homes last year, and is forecasting up to 75,000 homes could be repossessed this year.

The statistics, of which Terence Cotterill is just one, are alarming: one in 53 mortgages is now in arrears of three months or more and predictions suggest 500,000 homeowners will fall into arrears by the end of the year.

Adam Sampson, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, says: “As the credit crunch continues to bite, the reality is that more and more homeowners will struggle to keep up with their mortgage payments this year. We are seeing increasing numbers of people coming to us for help with mortgage problems and we would urge anyone in difficulty not to bury their heads in the sand and to seek advice early to ensure they don’t lose their homes.”

Separate figures from the Ministry of Justice showed that there were 29,095 court proceedings for repossessions during 2008.

The irony for people like Terence is that the Government, while bailing out the banks, pledged that help was on its way. Gordon Brown’s Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme to help prevent repossessions has faced delays. It won’t go live until April; little help to homeowners panicking over payments now.

Another scheme called Support for Mortgage Interest is run by the Department for Work and Pensions, which also operates Job Centres. This is what Terence has been awarded with one hand, but because family members live with him was almost totally removed with the other.

“The Job Centre have just informed me that we are being allowed £40 a week towards the mortgage costs. But because I’ve got a daughter living with me and she earns £12,000 a year they have awarded the £40 but taken £38.80 for having my daughter here. You cannot win.”

It means help towards his mortgage amounts to a grand total of £1.20.

Probably not what Gordon Brown envisaged when the Government launched its campaign to ensure people are aware of the support available and how to get it at the earliest opportunity.

“The Government is saying they are going to help,” continues Terence.

“It is saying ‘Don’t get to the point where your house is repossessed – get some help’. But what help? They want to stop repossessions but they are doing nothing, and the banks are acting like Little Hitlers. There must be thousands of people in the same position.”

This week the moment Terence has dreaded since he lost his job back in mid-October arrived: a letter on his doormat from his mortgage lender.

“It says you are £1,500 in arrears, please get in touch otherwise court proceedings or repossession could take place,” says Terence.

The irony is that in recent weeks he has been in constant touch with his bank, alerting them to his concerns.

He has even sought advice about a so-called mortgage holiday, which allows borrowers a period of grace while they get back on their feet, but he was told that because his mortgage payments are in arrears he is not eligible.

It it understandable that the dire situation he finds himself in is having an impact on his normally sunny outlook.

Says Terence: “I’m unemployed and I’m worried sick about losing my house. I am a positive person but am a bit bitter now.

“I am going through a lesson of life that I’ve never gone through before and there’s a lot of people out there who can relate to that. I’ve worked all my life and now I could lose everything. You never think it could happen to you but it can. And very easily.”