Indebted Brits facing ‘triple-whammy’

Indebted British homeowners are seeing their finances squeezed from three separate sources, it has been suggested.

The National Homebuyers company claims that remortgaging has become more difficult for anyone coming of a fixed-rate deal, interest rates are at relatively high levels and with house prices cooling there is the prospect of negative equity.

According to the company, which acquires properties from people with serious debt management problems, more and more families are likely to be unable to maintain their mortgage repayments over the course of this year.

“There is talk of interest rate cuts on the horizon, but for many families it will be too little too late. They can’t afford to rely on the Bank of England’s policy makers to save them,” said Julian King from National Homebuyers.

A report from Citizens Advice last month claimed that sub-prime mortgage lenders in the UK had “undermined home ownership” and forced many people deeper into the debt management mire.