New figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that mortgage arrears and repossessions continued to decline in the third quarter of this year.
Ceri Dunstan of Shelter Cymru said: “Obviously we welcome this continued decline – it appears that the combination of low interest rates, work by government and debt advisers and a more responsible approach by lenders is having an impact. However, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that these figures still represent some of the highest levels of repossession since the mid 1990s.
“Housing costs are clearly still a major issue for many people and the UK government’s recent 40 per cent cut to the rate at which it pays income support for mortgage interest for households in difficulties could have a serious impact in the longer term.
“According to an opinion poll carried out for us this summer by YouGov, nearly 50 per cent of adults in Wales who have a mortgage or pay rent struggle at least some of the time to meet their payments, while 23 per cent say that housing costs are a source of anxiety in their households.
“Our day-to-day advice work shows how quickly people can fall into difficulties if their circumstances change. Getting the right advice when you’re in a difficult situation can make the difference between keeping or losing your home, so maintaining support for strong independent advice services has never been more important.”
During the third quarter of 2010, 8,900 properties (representing 0.08% of mortgages) were taken into possession. The total was 5% lower than the 9,400 cases of possession in the preceding three months, and the fourth consecutive quarterly decline. The number of properties taken into possession was 27% lower than the 12,200 in the same period a year ago.
