Second Charge mortgage arrears fall to record low

New figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) show that the number of second charge mortgage repossessions in 2017 was 105, 27% lower than in 2016. In the final quarter of 2017, the number of repossessions was 27, down by almost 31% compared with the same period in 2016.

The rate of second charge mortgage repossessions, as a percentage of average outstanding agreements, has fallen from 0.34% in 2009 to just 0.06% in 2017.

Commenting on the figures, Fiona Hoyle, Head of Consumer and Mortgage Finance at the FLA, said “Helping customers in financial difficulty to get back on track is a priority for the second charge mortgage market. This is reflected in the low number of repossessions reported in 2017. If customers think they may experience payment difficulties, they should contact their lender at an early stage to explore alternative options. The sooner contact is made, the easier it is to find a solution.”

Table 1:  The number of actual properties taken into possession by FLA second charge mortgage providers

Time period	Number of possessions in the quarter	% change on the same quarter in the  previous year	Annual total	% change on the previous year
2008 Total   2009 Total   2010 Total   2011 Total   2012 Total   2013 Total   Q1 2014 Q2 2014 Q3 2014 Q4 2014   Q1 2015 Q2 2015 Q3 2015 Q4 2015   Q1 2016 Q2 2016 Q3 2016 Q4 2016   Q1 2017 Q2 2017 Q3 2017 Q4 2017	128 133 107 79   72 67 56 33   34 40 31 39   19 36 23 27	-43.4% -27.3% -25.7% -35.8%   -43.8% -49.6% -47.7% -58.2%   -52.8% -40.3% -44.6% 18.2%   -44.1% -10.0% -25.8% -30.8%	1,612   1,467   864   827   6282   676         447         228         144         105	-9.0%   -41.1%   -4.3%   -24.1%2   7.6%2         -33.9%         -49.0%         -36.8%         -27.1%