Britain has now emerged from the recession, but this could be put in jeopardy if the Tories came to power in the General Election.
Homeowners in particular would be vulnerable. The last Tory government presided over record numbers of repossessions. By contrast this Labour government has regulated through the Financial Services Authority to ensure that repossession is only used as a last resort.
Labour also put pressure on lenders to extend forbearance to borrowers wherever possible and launched a comprehensive publicity campaign to help ensure households know their rights.
Funding was made available to provide free face-to-face debt advice services and legal guidance introduced to ensure lenders have to prove to a Court that repossession is a last resort. And lenders have to inform local authorities if they are taking repossession action so the authority can help the homeowner.
Furthermore, access to a free advice desk in every court to help households on the day if they are facing a repossession hearing has been implemented.
Many local households in Derby are benefiting from lenders agreeing more affordable formal changes to their mortgage payments. Across the country it’s 74% higher than the same time last year.
In the 1990s recession, repossessions peaked at 75,500 in 1991. If they were running at the same rate to the figure would be expected to be around 91,000. The Council of Mortgage Lenders expect the figure for 2009 to be about half that amount.
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