The number of people being evicted from their homes is expected to rise further this year after figures showed repossessions climbed to a 14-year high.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/borrowing/mortgages/7212596/Repossessions-reach-14-yr-high.html

By Myra Butterworth, Personal Finance Correspondent
Published: 11:00AM GMT 11 Feb 2010

As many as 46,000 people had their home repossessed last year, the highest level since 1995 and 15 per cent more than the previous year.

The figure from the Council of Mortgage Lenders is significantly below the group’s original forecast of 75,000, which was revised down twice to 48,000.

However, the CML predicts a sharp increase in repossessions and the number of people falling behind with their monthly mortgage payments this year.

It blamed uncertainty in the economy and possible interest rate rises putting additional pressure on households’ finances.

Charities and financial experts said it was “unacceptable” that so many people had lost their homes.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter said: “It is still completely unacceptable. Behind each one of these numbers is a heartbreaking story of a family losing their home and having to rebuild their lives.

Government schemes to help borrowers in financial difficulty stay in their homes have helped to keep the figures lower than original predicted.

Howard Archer, an economist at Global Insight said: “Home repossessions have thankfully been substantially less than feared so far, which is very good news. Nevertheless, a significant number of homeowners are still at risk.

“Unemployment is relatively high and full-time employment is currently continuing to fall appreciably. Meanwhile, many people have suffered wage freezes or even cuts, debt levels have risen and credit conditions remain very tight. Even if the economy can sustain recovery, activity is unlikely to be strong enough for some time to come to stop full-time employment falling further.”

The CML also revealed a sharp decline in the number of mortgages for landlords.

It said 93,000 buy-to-loans were approved last year, down 58 per cent on the previous year’s 222,700 and the lowest annual figure since 2001.