Repossessions up by almost half

Published Friday, 16 November 2012
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The number of repossessions in Northern Ireland has jumped by almost half.

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According to the latest figures released by the Courts Service, there have been 558 mortgage cases from July to September this year - a 46% rise on the same period last year.

The court made 562 decisions about those cases - up 45% on last year.

And 392 of these were possession orders, meaning the defendant lost their home.

The Housing Rights Service told UTV there are a variety of reasons this is happening.

"Certainly in the last quarter alone we've seen a 50% increase in the number of people who are contacting us, and it's a variety of reasons," said Ursula Toner.

"There are people who no longer believe they'll be able to maintain their payments, there are people who can't pay their payments, maybe making partial payments.

"These are people who maybe perhaps suffered a job loss via redundancy. Perhaps they have received an income shock, even something as simple as reduced hours."

Northern Ireland has not seen the same rise in house prices as the rest of the UK since the housing bubble burst - and many people have found themselves in negative equity.

The dole queues have also been getting longer, with figures released on Wednesday showing another 600 out of work in NI.

The monthly claimant count for NI was the second highest among the 12 UK regions, at 7% compared to the average of 4.8%, according to the latest figures.
There are now 64,100 people here claiming benefits.

While the region is now out of recession, many people including those affected by the latest repossession figures may not feel that way.

© UTV News
Comments Comments
4 Comments
Dave in Belfast wrote (183 days ago):
People are losing their homes because they borrowed too much thinking property was a never-ending cash cow. No sympathy from those of us who were not convinced and cautiously stayed out of the whole boom thing. Great bargains to be had, because finally now really is the time to buy (remember that slogan from 2006-2011?)
Joe Dolan in Ballymena wrote (183 days ago):
Banks are stealing off people charging up to 6% on mortgages that come out of deals after a number of years. Disgusting theft when the base rate is 0.5%. This needs stopped now or this story will become more common.
norman.d in bangor wrote (184 days ago):
this is the real cost of these austerity measures people loseing their jobs and homes but all we hear from stormont is parades and flags instead of tackling the real issues this recession that is getting worse by the week
Barry in Broughshane wrote (184 days ago):
Do you think the Bank of Irelands 1% interest rate rise in the past few months has anything to do with it??? More people losing their homes while the bankers get richer! Nobody seems to care up on the hill.
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