Reading Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Campaigner for Reading East, Cllr Gareth Epps, has expressed alarm at the rapid increase in mortgage repossession claims at Reading Crown Court.

The Ministry of Justice published figures on August 15, 2008 showing that the number of mortgage possession claims between January and June 2008 at Reading Crown Court were 26% higher than a year earlier (see justice.gov website Mortgage Repossessions). Compared with last year, figures from the second quarter of 2008 show a 37% increase. Possession orders were 16% higher.

The 37% year-on-year growth in mortgage repossession orders from April-June at Reading Crown Court is one of the highest increases in the South-East.

Gareth Epps commented:

“This dramatic increase is very worrying. We look set to see the highest level of repossessions at Reading Crown Court for at least 10 years.”

“Around the country, thousands of families are now paying the price for the Government letting the economy get hopelessly out of control.

“With rising mortgage repayments and sky high food and fuel costs, more and more people’s budgets are being driven to breaking point.”

“There is a lot of helpful advice available to people in financial difficulty – for example from the Citizens’ Advice Bureau – but we also need a change in the rules.”

“If we are to avoid the mass repossessions of the 1990s, it’s vital that the Government creates a statutory code of practice to ensure that lenders only ever repossess as a last resort.”

“This should not just apply to the big banks but also to the large number of secondary lenders who are using court action to pursue their debts in a very aggressive way.”