England and Wales have witnessed two major mortgage possession peaks since 1990, new figures have shown.
Produced by the Ministry of Justice – which is one of the government’s largest departments, with 76,000 employees to its name – and the Office for National Statistics, the findings revealed these episodes occurred in 1991 and the first half of 2008.
Despite an increase in the number of claims from 2003 playing a significant role in the second peak, a steep fall in the last six months of 2008 and into 2009 brought levels back down.
This took place as a result of reduced interest rates and lenders taking a more proactive stance with regard to helping consumers better manage their finances .
In addition, a number of interventions also served to drive the numbers down, including the arrival of the Mortgage Pre-Action Protocol.
The statistics revealed the last two years have seen claims numbers drop slightly, with the seasonally adjusted basis showing the 16,663 mortgage possession claims issues in 2012’s quarter one standing five per cent lower than that recorded over the final three-month period of 2011.