by Calculated Risk on 8/10/2008 10:41:00 AM

From the Independent: House repossessions soar to 12-year-high

The number of UK house repossessions jumped by 48 per cent in the first half of the year to its highest level for 12 years, figures showed today. ... The [Council of Mortgage Lenders] said the rate of repossession, at 0.16 per cent, was now the highest seen for 10 years.

But it stressed this was still low in the context of the entire mortgage market and less than half that experienced amid the housing market crash of the early 1990s.

Today's figures also reveal that the number of mortgages three months or more in arrears has risen ... to 1.33 per cent of all home loans, although the number of mortgages more than six months in arrears was 0.58 per cent of all loans.

Part of the problem (in addition to the house price bubble bursting in the UK) is that mortgage rates have increased, from The Times: Bank customers hit for £3.8 billion

Over the past 12 months HSBC has increased the cost of its two-year fix for borrowers with 25% equity in their home by half a percentage point, from 6.34% in July 2007 to 6.84% last month, according to figures from the data firm Defaqto.
...
A year ago, [Cheltenham & Gloucester] was charging an average interest rate of 6.28% on a two-year fixed-rate deal for those with a 25% deposit compared with an average 6.61% in July this year