The credit crunch is making it harder for people to keep up with their mortgage repayments, it has been claimed.
Commenting on the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice, which show that the number of mortgage possession claims increased by 16 per cent in the first quarter of 2008, Paul Holmes, operation director of Firstrung, explained that the rising cost of mortgages is now beginning to bite.
"It's simply affordability; houses were so expensive anyway you really have to push the margins of your own affordability to move up the ladder. Now those with £150,000 plus mortgages are finding that they are struggling and they are struggling quite a lot."
The fact that a large number of people were on "teaser rate" mortgages - which offered very low interest rates - has made things worse as some peoples' payments are increasing by around a third as their deal comes to an end, he concluded.
