THE number of borrowers in mortgage arrears climbed 7 per cent in the past three months to 81,900.
It raises fears that home repossessions will increase, amid families’ ongoing cost-of-living challenges.
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The number of borrowers in mortgage arrears climbed 7 per cent in the past three months to 81,900Credit: Alamy
Banking body UK Finance warned: “Higher mortgage rates and the cost of living have continued to weigh on households.”
The 81,900 homeowners were in arrears of 2.5 per cent or more of their outstanding balance.
Of those, 28,690 owed more than 10 per cent of their mortgage balance, putting them particularly at risk of defaulting on their loan.
That figure was up 2 per cent on the previous three months.
Some 610 homeowner-mortgaged properties were repossessed in the second quarter of 2023, down a fifth on the previous quarter.
UK Finance said the number of homeowner and buy-to-let repossessions remains close to historic lows, but is “expected to continue to rise in line with our mortgage market forecast”.
Figures from the Ministry of Justice showed that across England and Wales there were 3,986 mortgage repossession claims between April and June, a 15 per cent increase on the same period last year.
Polly Neate, of Shelter, said: “With private rents reaching record highs and no-fault evictions continuing to rise, hundreds of families risk being thrown into homelessness every day.”
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A Government spokesperson said: “Home-repossession is always a last resort and only a minority of evictions end up in the courts. Overall repossessions remain below pre-pandemic numbers.”
UK Finance said only 1 per cent of homeowners are behind on their payments.
Some lenders are beginning to reduce fixed rates on new mortgages.
Wilt Disney
WALT Disney is hiking the cost of seeing series such as The Mandalorian and films including its live-action The Little Mermaid.
The entertainment giant has had a larger-than-expected drop in subscriber numbers and made a £361million loss for the three months to July.
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Walt Disney is hiking the cost of seeing series such as The MandalorianCredit: DISNEY PLUS
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Films including its live-action The Little Mermaid is also being hikedCredit: © 2023 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Its basic ad-free subscription will rise from £7.99 to £10.99 a month from November 1.
There will be a £4.99 version with adverts.
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