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Consumers to be hit by repossessions
21/12/2007
Solicitors in Belfast and Northern Ireland could be pursuing record numbers of people for debt in the New Year after experts predict that repossessions will be on the rise.
Belfast solicitors in particular could see more cases of debt than in the rest of Northern Ireland, as overinflated house prices in the city have led to unmanageable mortgage repayments.
Paul Fletcher, director of the Repossessions Advice Centre, said that sale and buy back schemes could help struggling homeowners, although participants "have to be very, very careful".
"If you went down the road of getting repossessed, I think the realisation on an average family home that you're going to actually achieve is somewhere in the region of 75 to 80 per cent," Mr Fletcher said. "If you've got a house worth £100,000, by the time you've added solicitors' and bailiffs' costs and all of that, the maximum you're going to get for it is £75,000."
"[When] selling your property to one of these companies with the buy back option, do not sell for less than 75 per cent on a bog-standard home. People are so desperate that they're selling their houses for 50 per cent of its market value - which is exploitation," he added.
People who have fallen behind on their repayments are advised to "address it straight away" before solicitors are forced to call in their debts.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, in the first half of 2007 14,000 homeowners in Britain and Northern Ireland lost their houses to repossession.
Contact us for legal advice
Belfast solicitors in particular could see more cases of debt than in the rest of Northern Ireland, as overinflated house prices in the city have led to unmanageable mortgage repayments.
Paul Fletcher, director of the Repossessions Advice Centre, said that sale and buy back schemes could help struggling homeowners, although participants "have to be very, very careful".
"If you went down the road of getting repossessed, I think the realisation on an average family home that you're going to actually achieve is somewhere in the region of 75 to 80 per cent," Mr Fletcher said. "If you've got a house worth £100,000, by the time you've added solicitors' and bailiffs' costs and all of that, the maximum you're going to get for it is £75,000."
"[When] selling your property to one of these companies with the buy back option, do not sell for less than 75 per cent on a bog-standard home. People are so desperate that they're selling their houses for 50 per cent of its market value - which is exploitation," he added.
People who have fallen behind on their repayments are advised to "address it straight away" before solicitors are forced to call in their debts.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, in the first half of 2007 14,000 homeowners in Britain and Northern Ireland lost their houses to repossession.
Contact us for legal advice
