Housing slump sees IVA rates rise

applying for Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), it has been claimed.

According to the UK Insolvency Helpline, fewer homeowners are being denied the option of entering an IVA because the value of their property exceeds their total debts.

However, as house prices continue to fall, an increasing number of property owners with serious debt problems are deciding an IVA is the most appropriate solution to their financial woes.

The situation has been welcomed by the National Money Advice organisation, which has described the fact that homeowners are sometimes rejected access to IVAs as being “comparable to cancer patients being denied chemotherapy because there weren’t ill enough”.

According to data from the Credit Action charity, one person in the UK enters insolvency or bankruptcy every four minutes.

Written by Giles Stevenson