GORDON BROWN yesterday claimed victory in the battle against home repossessions – even as he faced warnings that the issue was still a "ticking timebomb".
In an interview with the Daily Post, the Prime Minister declared that a package of measures taken since last autumn had prevented the expected flood of families losing their homes because of the crash.
Speaking in No.10, Mr Brown pointed to government pressure on lenders to make repossession the last resort and a scheme to give struggling homeowners longer to pay their bills.
Families at risk of falling behind with their payments have been offered free debt advice when their problems start and free support when their cases reach court.
Mr Brown said: "What we have done, in the last year, is that we said we would do out best to help homeowners with their mortgages. The reason why we haven't had stories about a vast rise in the number of repossessions – which is what happened in every other recession – is that we are taking action to ensure banks are cautious and put a moratorium on repossessions.
"At the same time, we are bringing in new measures to help people to pay their loans over a longer period of time and that is the way they can remain a homeowner." Mr Brown's upbeat verdict is partly backed by the latest figures from Merseyside and Cheshire, which revealed a 38% fall in the number of repossession orders – although there were 967 in three months. The decline in seizure orders was even sharper in some areas – including in Southport (46%), St Helens (42%), Chester (42%) and in Liverpool (40%).
