ROOF Blog

New research has highlighted that only half of households facing repossession orders actually attend their court hearings. There is also an indication that repossessions are not being considered the option of last resort by the courts. The research, undertaken by CIH’s consultancy arm, ConsultCIH, looked at hundreds of repossession orders made in 2008. The research found that many households are in denial about losing their homes. Conversely, others believe the loss of their home is a foregone conclusion by the time their case gets to court.

Mortgage lenders are failing to follow rules designed to help people avoid repossession, according to a damning report published today.

The joint report by AdviceUK, Citizens Advice and Shelter found that in a third of recorded cases mortgage lenders had failed to comply with new rules – known as the ‘pre-action protocol’ – requiring them to take court action as a last resort only.

Before starting legal action, lenders should offer borrowers other options for dealing with their arrears – however, judges only verified they had done so in a handful of cases.

Published on the same day as new repossession figures are expected from the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the ‘Turning the Tide?’ report is based on research into hundreds of cases seen by advisers who give last-minute advice to people at court on the day of their repossession hearings.

A landmark report published yesterday has found that too many offenders with mental health problems and learning disabilities are ending up in prison without access to the appropriate treatment. The report by former home office minister Lord Bradley said that many offenders with mental health problems would be better off serving community sentences instead of jail time, which would reduce reoffending rates and save millions of pounds. He has made a series of more than 80 recommendations calling for improvements in policing, courts and prisons, which ministers pledged to implement.

The government has announced that tens of thousands of people who faced losing their homes have benefited from free legal advice under the housing possession court duty scheme. The scheme ensures advisers are at court to offer legal aid the government claims they have prevented immediate repossession in 85 per cent of cases. Currently more than 2,800 people are using the service each month.