The first is the CML’s revised forecast for the number of borrowers who will have their homes repossessed this year: 65,000 (up from 40,000 in 2008). The second is the number of families the government says it wants to help avoid repossession: 6,000. And the third is the number of families who have, to date, actually been assisted by the Government’s Mortgage Rescue Scheme: just 6.
Is 666 a bad omen? It doesn’t have to be, says RPS chief executive Peter Beaumont: “The government has acted quickly to regulate the SRB market and it now needs to recognise that properly regulated SRB companies represent a very practical solution to the growing problem of repossession.
“It’s very clear that the number of repossessions are going to climb this year as unemployment continues to rise and the government therefore needs to rethink its strategy. Having spent many thousands of pounds on regulating the SRB market, now is the time to put that spend to good use by encouraging lenders to recognise SRB as another weapon in the war against rising repossessions.”
