Home repossessions at a 14 year high.

46,000 people had their homes repossess in 2009 – the highest figure since 1995. Although things weren’t as bad as had been predicted the figures were 6,000 up on 2008.12-02-2010

And that’s not the whole picture: more than 188,000 people are also having problems paying their loans and have arrears equivalent to 2.5% of the value of the outstanding mortgage or more.
The figures come from the council of Mortgage Lenders and its Director General  Michael Coogan said: "The fact that mortgage arrears and possessions did not rise as much as we feared in 2009 is testament to the effect of low interest rates and a great deal of concerted effort by lenders, government and the advice sector to help borrowers to address financial difficulties when they occur."
The Council had predicted 205,000 arrears cases for 2010 with 53,000 homes being repossessed by lenders but it now thinks that may be "a little pessimistic".
However, Mr Coogan added: "We are not out of the woods yet - 2010 will still be a challenging year for many borrowers, and some households will inevitably find their finances being squeezed if and when interest rates do eventually rise."
The figures aren’t as bad as expected because interest rates are so low and the government came up with several schemes to keep people in their homes like the  mortgage rescue scheme, which allows not-for-profit housing associations to buy homes from people struggling to pay their mortgage and then to continue living there by paying "affordable rent".
There have been worries that people allowed to stay in their homes despite arrears would simply be repossessed later but the numbers of repossessions in the pipeline have fallen too. That could be down to the government edict in November 2008 that lenders would have to convince the courts that they had explored all other possibilities before going ahead with repossession.
If you are in arrears and worried about being able to stay in your home get help straight away. Organisations like Citizens Advice Bureau and National Debtline can help. Click on Links on this site to find their details.