Still a home owner - with a little help

The government has announced a package worth £10 million to help homeowners who face repossession in the face of re-negotiated fixed-rate deals.

From an all time low in 2004, repossession rates have started to rise steadily since, and the credit-crunch has forced lenders and borrowers into some difficult decisions and negotiations.

A spokesperson for financial advice firm Gregory Pennington said: "Over recent months, however, we've observed a steady growth in the numbers of worried homeowners calling us for debt help and advice – the Council of Mortgage Lenders' prediction of 45,000 repossessions this year comes as no surprise.

"That's an estimated increase of 50 per cent. We would, however, like to stress that this is an estimate, and that individual homeowners don't have to become a statistic. In the vast majority of cases, there's no need for it to come to repossession, as long as people spot potential problems early on and take action before it’s too late."

May 19^th 2008

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