15th February 2010

Alan Keen MP says “Repossession help must continue”

Alan Keen MP has supported Labour pulling out all the stops to support struggling homeowners, despite new figures published today that show the number of repossessions in 2009 were less than originally forecast.

Alan Keen MP said:

“Lower interest rates and Labour’s measures to help people have helped more struggling families stay in their homes than previously predicted.

“The facts speak for themselves. Compared to the early 90s recession, fewer houses been repossessed.  If we’d repeated the mistakes of the Tory recession in the 1990s, house repossessions would have been twice as high.

“The main difference this time round is that Labour has taken action to support people. Instead of letting people to sink or swim, we have invested to help keep people in their homes.  This help must continue.”

Labour Housing Minister John Healey said: 

“Today’s figures show that it is never too late for hard-pressed homeowners to seek help to stay in their homes. The wide range of Government support, together with lower interest rates and greater lender forbearance, has helped keep repossessions around half the rate of last recession and stopped thousands of families from losing their homes. I would urge anyone facing difficulties to contact our repossessions helpline or website.”

"In the early 1990s, The Tories left families to sink or swim as the recession took its course. Repossessions, arrears and negative equity reached double their current level. We have put support for homeowners at the heart of our response to the economic downturn.  We have tightened the rules so repossession is always the last resort for lenders. Over 330,000 homeowners have got help and advice with their mortgage since April 2008.”

"Yet the Tories haven't learnt anything from their past mistakes - they are dismissive of Labour’s help with mortgage payments and propose cuts that would hinder economic recovery. The Tory approach would put more people at risk of losing their jobs and their homes, just like in the early 90s."

1. New figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that repossessions in the last three months of 2009 were down by x per cent compared to the previous quarter, and x less than the same period in 2008.

2. The total repossessions for 2009 were xxx – xx less than the 75,000 originally forecast.  This is also less than half the rate of repossessions during the last recession, when over 75,000 households lost their home in 1991 alone.

3. Labour have tightened the rules so that repossession is always the last resort and more than 330,000 households have benefited from help and advice with their mortgage over the past year.

4. Labour is determined that more struggling families can benefit from the help and advice available, which is why we have extended support for homeowners and are backing the Citizen’s Advice Bureau in running local events across the country to ensure homeowners can access face to face advice.

5. The Government has put in place a comprehensive range of help and support for homeowners during the downturn, from free debt advice and help with mortgage interest to backstop schemes like Homeowner Mortgage Support and the Mortgage Rescue Scheme.

6. This includes over 100,000 people who have gone to www.direct.gov.uk/mortgagehelp for advice, following the Government’s “It’s Your Home” campaign.  Advertisements have appeared in local newspapers and radio stations in 86 repossession “hotspots” urging struggling homeowners to seek early help to keep their home.

7. New figures today show that in the last year thousands of people have already received help through the mortgage rescue process, with the majority of people receiving help early on. Xxx households have received free advice from their local authority, with xx receiving tailored information, or referral to their lender or independent money adviser.

8. In the last three months, over 9,000 cases facing legal action were seen by court desk advisers, of which over 7,500 had the immediate risk of losing their home lifted – meaning four out of every five struggling households advised were able to stay in their homes beyond the hearing.

9. And the last resort Mortgage Rescue Scheme has helped xxx households stop the immediate threat of repossession, with a further xx accepting an offer from a Registered Social Landlord to sell and rent back their property so they could stay in their homes. A total xxx homeowners have been helped since the scheme’s launch last year.

10. Figures from the Ministry of Justice show that claims for mortgage possession by lenders between July and September 2009 were 37 per cent lower than during the same period in 2008 and seven per cent lower than the second quarter of that. Of the mortgage possession claims that led to orders, 44 per cent were suspended.

11. In December 2008 CML originally estimated there would be 75,000 repossessions in 2009. In June 2009 this was revised down to 65,000 and in November CML forecast there will be 48,000 repossessions in 2009.