Good news: The number of house repossession orders in the UK has fallen, from 9,800 cases in the first quarter of the financial year to 9,400 in the second. Compare that second figure to the 11,800 repossessions recorded in the same period last year and you can see we’re going in the right direction. The figures encouraged the CML to reduce their estimated number of repossessions for 2010 from 53,000 to 39,000.
Now for the Very Bad News: Only last week we had a powerful reminder of the damage repossession can do to a family, if you missed the reports, we’re talking about Barry and Amanda Harrison whose house in Coventry was repossessed last year. After both losing their jobs, debt and depression took over and culminated in Mr Harrison apparently taking his own life after killing his wife. The death of the pair leaves their 3 children, Aiden, five, and Owen, three, orphaned.
Now, we’re under no illusion, this is an extreme sequence of events and has to do with more than repossession but it does add fuel to the aguement that lenders do not do enough to help struggling people. The issue is especially difficult to comprehend when you consider that the lender that repossessed the Harrison’s home went on to sell it almost certainly at a loss, according to Land Registry figures.
