House repossessions jump

Repossessions up 24% on last year

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A rise in the number of homes being repossessed has prompted fresh concerns about council housing waiting lists.

New figures published by the Ministry of Justice show 28,658 repossession orders were granted by the courts in England and Wales in the second quarter of this year.

This represents a 24% increase on the number of homes repossessed in the same quarter last year and a 4% rise compared to the first three months of 2008.

The first quarter also saw banks and building societies lodge 39,078 repossession claims in 2008's second quarter– a 17% jump compared to the equivalent point last year.

Paul Bettison, chair of the Local Government Association's environment  board, said the rise in repossessions would increase pressure on already high council housing waiting lists.

"Even when the economic good times were rolling, councils saw ever increased pressure on their social housing stock. Now that the credit crunch is upon the country it appears that many thousands more people will be looking to councils to provide them with a permanent home as they either find it impossible to get on the housing ladder or see their home repossessed."

He urged the government to ease rules restricting councils borrowing powers because despite falling house prices more social housing would be needed to accommodate households on waiting lists.

London Councils' executive member for housing Councillor Jamie Carswell said: "These statistics reveal a worrying trend and make it abundantly clear that the credit crunch is coming home to roost – and I fear that it won't be too long before we see a rise in repossessions in London potentially leading to increased homelessness.

"A 9% increase in the overall repossession claims over the last quarter compared to the same period last year, masks a number of 'repossession claim hot spots' across the capital where the increase is over 20%."