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Home owners in a Welsh county are most at risk of losing their houses in repossessions.

Rhondda Cynon Taf topped a list of those at risk, with Blaenau Gwent, Merthyr and Caerphilly also included.

In the UK as a whole fewer people are expected to lose their homes this year after mortgage lenders today reported a decline in repossessions in the quarter to June.

A total of 9,400 homes were repossessed during the second quarter of 2010, down 400 from the previous quarter, and 2,400 below the figure for the same period of 2009, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

The figure led the CML to revise its forecast for total repossessions in 2010 as a whole – it now predicts 39,000 repossessions for the year, compared with November’s estimate of 53,000 and the 47,700 reported in 2009.

The number of mortgages behind with payments also fell. At the end of June there were 178,200 loans with arrears equivalent to 2.5% or more of their mortgage balance. This was 5% lower than at the end of March, and 17% lower than a year earlier.

The CML is now expecting 175,000 mortgages to end the year 2.5% or more in arrears, compared with the previous forecast of 205,000.

Low interest rates, increased lender forbearance and the introduction of Government schemes to help people who are struggling to keep up with their mortgage have helped to reduce today’s figures.

But the CML warned that any hike in interest rates and a rise in unemployment could put borrowers in a precarious position, and urged the coalition government to maintain its support for homeowners.

CML director-general Michael Coogan said: “While we don’t want to cry wolf, it seems obvious that the ongoing prognosis for arrears and possessions is far from a healthy all-clear.

“We hope the coalition government will not risk undermining the chances of extending the welcome trends this year by removing support mechanisms that work.”

A total of 980 families had so far completed the Mortgage Rescue Scheme, under which vulnerable households who are facing repossession can sell some or all of their home to a social landlord and rent it back.

The CML’s optimistic figures were tempered by warnings from the Government that more people were being forced into selling their home before any court action was taken against them.

Research from the Centre of Housing Policy at the University of York showed financial difficulties, often triggered by a relationship breakdown and other loans secured on the property, were forcing home owners to sell up.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles consequently warned that while the CML forecasts were welcome, many more homeowners had fallen victim to losing their home than were shown in its repossession statistics.

Following CML’s announcement, homelessness charity Shelter urged the Government to keep funding for debt advice services in the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review.

Shelter director Kay Boycott said: “Even though repossessions have dropped slightly over the last year we must not forget that repossessions are still exceptionally high, with thousands of families going through the nightmare of losing their home.”

The Ministry of Justice also released figures today which showed a fall in the number of repossession orders made by courts in England and Wales.

A total of 17,774 mortgage repossession claims were issued in the second quarter of 2010, on a seasonally adjusted basis, 5% lower than the previous quarter, and 30% lower than the same period in 2009.

This led to 13,389 repossession orders being made, 7% fewer than in the first quarter of 2010 and 29% lower than in the second quarter of 2009.

The numbers of mortgage repossession claims issued and claims leading to orders made have been on a downward trend since the first quarter of 2008, the Ministry of Justice said.

The continuing fall is likely to be driven in part by the introduction of the pre-action protocol in November 2008, under which courts can grant a repossession order only if all other measures to keep someone in their home have failed.

Ed Stansfield, chief property economist at Capital Economics, said: “Mortgage arrears and possessions continued to improve in the second quarter of the year.

“But with tax increases and public sector spending cuts set to intensify the pressure on household incomes and trigger fresh rises in unemployment, it is too early to conclude that we are out of the woods yet.”

Welsh county tops mortgage claims list: next page

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