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Big jump in repossessions but lenders try to calm market fears

The number of owners' properties being repossessed jumped 15 per cent year on year in the second quarter of 2019.

There were 1,270 repossessions of mortgaged properties in April to June; there were only 1,100 in the same period in 2018.

The figures come from UK Finance, the trade body representing mortgage companies.

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The new data follows the 1,390 repossessions in the first quarter of 2019 and suggests a trend in people losing their homes despite continued low interest rates for mortgages.

UK Finance said the recent increase in repossessions has been partly driven by a backlog of older cases being processed in line with new regulatory requirements.

However, it tried to stop the increase creating wider concern about the housing market.

It said repossessions remain "well below" the levels seen between 2009 and 2014.

“Lenders continue to show flexibility to borrowers in financial difficulty and possession is always a last resort” said the body.

The number of owners in arrears on their mortgages - but not to the degree that they trigger repossession - remains at historically low levels.

There were 75,890 home-owner mortgages - representing 0.84 per cent of all UK residential mortgages - in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more in the second quarter of 2019.

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