Government Needs To Do More To Help Stop Repossessions
Since the beginning of the credit crunch, almost two years ago, there have been a growing number of concerns from homeowners with regard to growing arrears on their homeowner loan and the possibility of losing their home through repossession, due to losing their jobs, or even having a reduction in their take home pay.
It seems that these worries are well justified, as over the course of last year there were a record number of properties repossessed and the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have predicted that this figure is likely to get higher this year.
The research and campaign group, Which? has now said that the government should take more action in order to try an reduce the number of repossessions. The group also warned that in many cases the problem for homeowners is caused by arrears on an unsecured loan rather than a mortgage or homeowner loan and that new legislation needs to be introduced to help protect unsecured loan borrowers from having their property repossessed.
As the base rate on interest has fallen over the course of recent months, homeowner loans have become much cheaper for many borrowers, however, unsecured loan rates have remained extremely high by comparison and it is feared that a large number of borrowers will prioritise their unsecured loan repayments over those of their homeowner loan, leading to a greater risk of losing their home.
A recent survey conducted by Which? showed that somewhere in the region of six million homeowners are concerned about being able to keep their home. 62 per cent of those interviewed were concerned over job security and 73 per cent of homeowners believe that the government should do more to help those who are struggling to keep up with their loan repayments.
