Courts ‘cannot cope’ with volume of repossessions

The rate of repossessions has grown to such an extent that some courts cannot cope, a lawyer has claimed.

Andrew Leakey told the Bolton News that he believes courts are delaying other cases to handle the excess.

He commented: “The problem has been caused because lenders are, in some situations, vigorously clamping down on those who fail to keep up with their repayments.”

The volume of repossessions has increased 24 per cent in England and Wales from this time last year, the news provider stated.

However, it quoted a Bolton court spokesperson as saying: “Bolton continues to prioritise repossession cases. We are dealing with these cases as normal.”

Recently, the Council of Mortgage Lenders predicted there would be 170,000 homeowner loans in arrears of more than three months and 45,000 total possessions by the end of the year. The possession rate was 0.16 per cent in the first half of 2008.

By Jamie Price