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19,687 mortgage repossession orders were issued in England and Wales in the three months ending September, a massive 66% increase on the same quarter last year, according to figures released by the Department for Constitutional Affairs.

The figure is the highest since the third quarter of 1993, back in the dark days of the property recession and is far removed from the low of 9,616 experienced in the first quarter of 2003, just 30 months earlier.

The number of possession orders being issued has been increasing since the early part of 2004 and the trend is expected to continue with the expectation that the 25,000-orders-issued mark could be breached by the end of March 2006.

Don’t Panic Just Yet

Things may be getting worse, but it is not necessarily as dire as the figures initially suggest.

The number of possession orders does not reflect the number of properties that will end up being repossessed. It is more common for lenders and borrowers to come to an agreement over the outstanding debt rather than events end in the property being repossessed. It is also not uncommon for a property to have more than one possession order issued against.

There is no denying that it is an escalating problem. Actual repossessions for the first 6 months of 2005 totalled 4,640, according to figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, up from 3,070 in the preceding six months.

Whilst these figures emphasise that the majority of repossession orders do not translate into actual repossessions, it does highlight the growing number of people with repayment problems. The CML anticipates the total number of repossessions for 2005 will be more than 10,000, still far removed from the 70,000 a year witnessed during the height of the property recession of the early 1990s.

Talk to Your Lender

The difference between the number of possession orders issued and actual repossessions also highlights how important it is to talk your lender as soon as you find you can’t make the mortgage payments.

“If you are having problems making your repayments it is imperative your get in touch with your lender immediately”, says Stephen Rose director of the not-for-profit Debt Advice Bureau™. “Don’t bury your head in the sand in the misguided hope that things will sort themselves out. If the lender doesn’t know what is happening, they are more likely to take you to court”.

“The sooner you talk to your lender, the sooner you can come to an arrangement. One which you can afford and which ensures you don’t have to worry about nasty letters arriving in the post”.