Mortgage arrears lower than expected, says CML

Date:Tuesday 15th December 2009
Author: Susanna Kavka

Mortgage arrears and possessions are lower than they were expected to be earlier in the year, one industry expert has asserted.

Director-general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Michael Coogan made his remarks after the publication of Financial Services Authority (FSA) mortgage data for the third quarter of this year.

The information indicated that the number of new arrears cases fell by ten per cent over the course of the three-month period to stand at 46,000.

It also said that the number of new possessions reached a total of 14,000, which is a 2.8 per cent increase on the second quarter of the year.

Mr Coogan said that the FSA data reflects what the CML's figures have already indicated.

"Arrears and possessions are lower than expected earlier in the year - and the majority of the population have been choosing to stay on their SVRs or move to trackers, rather than take out fixed-rate mortgages," he added.