Mortgage lending ‘will be negative next year’

Mortgage lending will be negative next year for the first time on record and 75,000 people will have their homes repossessed, the Council of Mortgage Lenders predicted today.

The group expects the number of people who lose their homes to soar by 67% from 45,000 this year, and it predicts 500,000 people will fall at least three months behind with mortgage repayments as the economic downturn intensifies. The mortgage drought will also contribute to a further drop in the number of homes changing hands, with only 700,000 transactions taking place during the year, down from 900,000 this year and 1.63 million in 2007.

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