REPONDING to new CML figures out today showing there were 8,900 repossessions in July-September this year, Gordon MacRae, head of Communications and Policy, Shelter Scotland, said:
“Today’s figures are no cause for celebration. While repossessions are lower than predicted, annual levels are still the highest we have seen since the mid 1990s.
“The number of people in more than 12 months of arrears has more than trebled in the last two years.
“It is therefore very poor timing for the UK Government to cut the vital Support for Mortgage Interest scheme by 40 per cent.
“Research released by Shelter Scotland yesterday shows one in six homeowners in Britain are struggling to pay their mortgage, a 78 per cent increase in a year. The research also showed that one in three (33 per cent) homeowners in Scotland say they live with the constant worry of how to pay their mortgage, equivalent to 512,173 households (3).
“With unemployment continuing to rise across Scotland and many more people struggling daily to make ends meet, we are extremely concerned that thousands are being pushed into a dangerous spiral of debt and, ultimately, homelessness.
“Lenders must do more to help by moving people who are stuck on high rates to one that matches the support provided so that struggling homeowners are not faced with a shortfall and avoid losing their home.”
Anyone struggling with their mortgage can get free advice today by calling Shelter Scotland’s helpline on 0808 800 4444 or visiting our website.
ENDS
1. CML Statistics: http://www.cml.org.uk/cml/media/press/2769#
Figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show there were 20,100 mortgages in 12 months or more of arrears at the end of Q3 2008 and 64,800 at the end of Q3 2010. Please note these figures are UK-wide. There are no figures available for repossession levels in Scotland. Shelter Scotland continues to call for these to be collected and published.
2. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2234 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 10th – 12th August 2010. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
3. This is calculated using a base number of owner occupied homes in Scotland of 1,537,136 from the Scottish Government.
4. 36.7 per cent of adults surveyed said they owned their home paying a mortgage (equivalent to 17.4 million people – 2009 estimates from the Office of National Statistics indicate that there are 47.3 million adults in Great Britain http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_population/mid-09-uk-eng-wales-scot-northern-ireland-24-06-10.zip (open Table 2 in the files available).
5. Of these 17.8 per cent said they were keeping up with their mortgage payments, but it was a constant struggle or they were falling behind with payments. This equates to 3.1m adults’ people in Britain.
MEDIA RELEASE posted by Shelter Scotland. You too can post media releases (aka press releases) on allmediascotland.com. For more information, email here.
Contact: Nicola Baxter, Neil Baldwin
Phone: 0844 515 2442
Website: http://www.shelter.org.uk
