The Scottish Parliament, having passed the the Home Owner and Debtor Protection Bill, an initiative supported by all parties to make it harder to repossess homes from owners who are experiencing financial difficulties, is to be welcomed. We at Decision Homebuyers would like to see a similar bill enacted for the rest of the UK.
House repossessions have risen again in the past 12 months: figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that 46,000 homes were repossessed last year, the highest figure since 1995. Although it is slightly lower than the number that the CML forecast, it is still a shocking statistic, particularly because behind the cold hard numbers there are stories about real human beings experiencing real life shattering tragedy.
Families can be devastated, lives permanently ruined. The burden of helping people pick up the pieces usually falls upon the already hard pressed tax payer. And statements such as that made by Housing Minister John Healey on Radio 5 Live that, for some people, having their home repossessed was the best thing that could happen to them, are pretty unhelpful.
Everyday, we at Decision Homebuyers are in touch with people who are struggling on the frontline of the current recession and none of them can see the upside of having their houses seized and sold from under them.
The case of Mrs W of Dalry in North Ayrshire is sadly typical of many people facing a visit from the bailiffs: “My husband was a sub editor on a newspaper and he was made redundant last year after nearly 30 years. The redundancy settlement wasn’t really very much and was eaten up in a very short time as we tried to cover living expenses, the mortgage, and existing repayments like the car and our credit cards. He has been unable to find another job; there is nothing in the newspaper trade and even jobs that pay minimum wages like call centres won’t employ him because, we suspect, they think he’s too old. Even with the fall in interest rates, we started struggling and missed some payments. The mortgage lenders were no help at all. They piled on huge penalty charges and eventually legal fees. The less we had, the more we owed. They seemed to be intent on repossessing the house as soon as they found out that we were in trouble. They were going to force a sale at thousands less than the house was valued at. We were terrified: our credit rating was a mess, so we had problems looking for something to rent in the private sector. The local council advised us that it could be years before we were rehoused and that the best they would be able to offer was temporary accommodation in a hostel. We weren’t able to sleep at nights. My husband was depressed and talked about killing himself. I wanted to disappear, just walk away and leave it all behind. We were advised that even after they had repossessed the house we’d still be in debt. Because of my husband’s situation, he couldn’t even declare himself bankrupt.”
In the end Decision Homebuyers was able to make a cash offer on their home that was below market value but more than the amount that they would have made had the house been repossessed. With help from Shelter, the National Debtline and the support of friends and family, they were able to find a rented home and rebuild their lives.
“Trying to live with debt and mortgage arrears is like trying to swim with a brick in each hand,” says Decision Homebuyers’s Amanda Hoyles. “We’ve dealt with people who have quite literally had the bailiffs at the door. We have been able to help many people threatened with repossession and though we wouldn’t for a minute say that selling quickly to us or any other homebuyer company was the best thing that ever happened to our clients, most of them would acknowledge that it was preferable to the alternative. Listening to people telling us about the desperate situations in which they find themselves, we are very glad that we are able to be here even if we are a last resort.”
