Repossessions soar by 71 per cent

The statistics, from the second quarter of this year, show the number of possession cases increased from 9,172 in the first quarter to 11,054. This is up from 6,849 in the second quarter of 2007.

The number of mortgages in arrears has also increased, up 16 per cent on a year ago to 320,000 accounts. This represents 2.58 per cent of accounts, up from 2.44 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

The mortgage lending market as a whole slowed in the first half of the year, although there was still growth of 1 per cent between quarter one and two. The FSA said the market shows ‘continued weakness in the short term’.

There was a sharp drop in the number of mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio of more than 90 per cent- from around 15 per cent of new lending in early 2007 to 10 per cent in the first half of 2008.

Adam Sampson, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said the FSA must ‘start using its teeth to stop lenders rushing to court to repossess people’s homes.’

He added: ‘These figures are not only shocking and worse than expected, they highlight the crippling severity of the credit crunch on ordinary homeowners.’

Mr Sampson said that Shelter’s helpline has seen repossessions calls rise almost 167 per cent in the last six months.

Separate figures from the Land Registry show house prices are continuing to fall. Across England and Wales the price of the average house fell 2.2 per cent in September, to £168,814.

Prices have now fallen by 8 per cent in the last year, and sales have slumped dramatically – in July they were down 57 per cent on the year before.

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