Repossessions accelerated last year, says CML

The research shows that the number of repossessions rose from 8,140 in the first half of 2006 to 8,860 in the second half.

Totalling 17,000 in the year as a whole, repossessions were 65 per cent higher in 2006 than in 2005.

According to the CML, London has seen the largest rise in the number of repossession orders relative to the number of mortgaged properties over the past few years.

Other areas of the south have also seen larger increases in repossession rates compared to other parts of the country.

Repossessions are expected to grow to 19,000 this year and 20,000 in 2008, reflecting a “worsening in prospects” brought about by higher costs of borrowing, the CML said.

Vince Cable, Treasury spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, has called on the government to do more to prevent the repossession rate rising to the disastrous levels last seen in the early 1990s.