Shelter fires repossessions warning

Mr Sampson points to the growing number of people approaching his organisation for advice and information on the home repossessions process to substantiate his claim.

“In the last six months we have seen the number of people clicking on the pages [of Shelter’s website] to do with repossessions have doubled to over 70,000,” he told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme.

“People are increasingly over-borrowing, over-stretching themselves to be able to afford to get into the housing market, because they see house prices going up and they see housing as a quick route into wealth,” he continued.

It is widely expected that the Bank of England will opt to increase the base rate of interest this month and as a result put further financial pressure on Britain’s credit consumers.

Meanwhile, figures from the national not-for-profit organisation Credit Action show that the UK’s personal debt management mountain is increasing by close to £1 million every four minutes.