Home loss hotspot reveals new crisis

11:38am Tuesday 13th May 2008

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REPOSSESSIONS are rocketing as people's dreams of buying their own homes in Dorset go sour.

Latest figures from the charity Shelter show that the county has one of the highest numbers of county court home repossessions nationwide for the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same quarter in 2007.

Only Gloucestershire, up 34 per cent, Lincolnshire up 32 per cent and Merseyside up 30 per cent, had worse repossession increases than the 27 per cent found in Dorset.

The increase in Dorset was well above the 17 per cent average for the south west.

Dorset also had some hotspots, by far the worst of which was Weymouth and Dorchester with 67 repossessions, a 46 per cent increase on the same period last year.

Other areas of the county detailed included a 30 per cent rise in Bournemouth and a 16 per cent rise in Poole. Shelter said that figures from the Ministry of Justice showed that the number of court cases involving cash-strapped Weymouth and Portland homeowners was so high that it was among the worst 20 towns in the entire country.

The charity added that the increases in Dorset and the South West pointed to the fact that some lenders were using court action earlier than ever before to "manage" their borrowers' mortgage problems.

Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson warned: "The worst fears of thousands of homeowners are now becoming a tragic reality.

"Mortgage lenders should be helping homeowners to stay in their homes but, with some, it's a case of miss a couple of payments and you'll find yourself in court."

He said Shelter was launching a five-point plan which it wants the Government and lenders to adopt including making repossession "the very last resort".