propertytalk Live! - Shelter: Government must do more to help struggling homeowners

propertytalk Live! - Shelter: Government must do more to help struggling homeowners

The Government must do more to help homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage, Shelter has said.

Responding to recent Council of Mortgage Lenders figures showing there were 7,900 repossessions in the fourth quarter of 2010, Shelter’s Chief Executive Campbell Robb said:

‘Whilst it is welcome news that repossessions are falling, we still cannot underestimate how hard homeowners are finding it right now to keep a roof over their heads’.

Shelter received a record number of calls to our homeowner helpline last month, and our research recently revealed the number of people struggling to pay their mortgage has surged by 78% over the past year.

Mr Robb continued: ‘People across the country are facing a daily battle to manage their finances as they are increasingly squeezed by a vicious combination of rising living costs and wage freezes.

‘And, as the lending industry themselves recognise, there are a number of big threats on the horizon - such as interest rate rises and possible increases in unemployment – which could lead to thousands of people pushed into a spiral of debt, repossession and potential homelessness.’