Housing bubble set to burst

2.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Sun 6th Nov 2005

As previously reported on this website (27 October 2005) figures from the Department of Constitutional Affairs show a huge rise in the numbers of mortgage possession procedures issued in the County Courts. An analysis of the data has now been done by the Liberal Democrats and it shows that a repossession order is now made once every 30 minutes in the South East of England; and in England and Wales as a whole this means one every seven minutes.

A region by region breakdown gives the following figures for repossession orders in each region:

London 37 minutes

East Midlands 88 minutes

South East 45 minutes

South West 90 minutes

West Midlands 61 minutes

Wales 122 minutes

North West 66 minutes

North East 140 minutes

Eastern Region 68 minutes

Merseyside 207 minutes

Yorkshire and Humber 80 minutes

The number of possession orders made in the three months to September 2005 rose to 19,687 from 11,682 - a 66% jump.

Commenting on the figures Vince Cable MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor said "Banks and building societies need to ensure that when individuals take out mortgages they are fully aware of the risks that are involved and of the relevant insurance products."

Vince went on to say "At long last the Chancellor has now accepted there is a bubble in the housing market. Now he needs to recognise that for many homeowners it is sadly bursting and that he needs to take action."