Affordable home loans ‘becoming hard to find’

Affordable home loans are becoming hard to find and the trend is likely to continue, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

The organisation is convinced that as tens of thousands of homeowners are obliged to find a new mortgage deal as their fixed-rate arrangement expires, many will be unable to find an affordable alternative.

As a result of these and more general debt management problems, Rics is expecting 43,000 repossessions to be carried out over the course of this year.

The comments came in response to the latest data from the Ministry of Justice that showed a 16 per cent rise over the past in the number of repossession claims being made in England and Wales.

Stephen Thornton, Rics’ senior press officer, said: “Today’s repossession numbers emphasise the difficulties that some homeowners are having in meeting their mortgage payments.”

In related news, David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk, warned British consumers that they risk adding to their difficulties in becoming debt free if they make a credit application that is unlikely to be approved.