The Bureaux dealt with more than 57,000 mortgage and secured loan arrears problems in 2007.
This equates to an 11 per cent increase on the previous year, highlighting an apparent need for greater concern on the part of the lender, says Citizens Advice.
Sue Edwards, head of consumer policy at Citizen's Advice said: "Our evidence shows that lenders are not always doing everything they can to help borrowers in trouble, all too often piling on extra charges and being too quick to take court action rather than being prepared to negotiate affordable repayment arrangements.
"We want to see all lenders being reasonable when dealing with customers who do get into trouble, and taking court action for possession only as a last resort."
Edwards added that the growth of ‘sale and rent back’ schemes may mean the actual repossession figures tend to understate the true scale of the problems faced by borrowers at the margins of affordability.
Protection provision is also key in times of higher repossessions, placing greater emphasis on quality and value.
Edwards continued: “We also want to see tougher enforcement of existing regulation of mortgages, and for the same regulatory system to apply to all mortgages and other secured lending in future, instead of the fragmented regime that currently applies."
