CML revises repossession forecasts again

It has been reported that the Council of Mortgage Lenders has once again cut its forecasts for repossession numbers in the UK, having taken more recent industry figures and market conditions into consideration.

The group had already cut its forecast earlier this year and has not cut it again by 35 percent, with its figures now forecasting forty eight thousand repossessions rather than the seventy five thousand it had originally predicted.

The CML has said that a number of factors has contributed to its decision to cut the forecast again.

This includes lenders easing up on their tough regulations to some degree, government intervention that has seen measures put into place to try and reduce the number of people losing their homes, and the increased likelihood of homeowners to seek advice and assistance when they start to struggle with mortgage repayments.

Despite the economic outlook in the UK, which remains bleak at present, figures from the CML have shown that in the third quarter of this year the number and level of properties with mortgage arrears fell, providing some encouraging data.

At the end of the third quarter 1.77 percent of all mortgages were in arrears of at least 2.5 percent of the loan, and this compared to 1.86 percent at the end of the second quarter of this year.

An official from the CML said: “We are glad to have been wrong on our previous forecast for mortgage repossessions this year. Low interest rates, and lenders’ forbearance policies, have helped to cushion many households facing financial problems. And although the economy is not out of the woods yet, we no longer expect a dramatic rise in properties being taken into possession unless interest rates rise from the low levels that most commentators now expect to persist for some time.”

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