There is currently a national property divide between the north and the south of the country and those who are most likely to lose their homes.
A heatmap has shown that those who live in the north are much more likely to lose their homes compared to those who are living in the south.
No matter where your home is, it is always a good idea to have insurance because circumstances that are out of your control can change very quickly. In addition, if your tenants happen to fall into arrears a landlord insurance policy could be critical.
North
Analysis of the amount of court-ordered repossessions at the end of 2011 by e.surv, who are chartered surveyors, has found the areas where repossessions are the most popular. These areas are the north east and the M62 corridor – this includes some parts of south Yorkshire and Lancashire.
The reason for this is many are finding keeping up with mortgage payments hard due to job losses. It is particularly hard in the north because many depend on public sector employment but with austerity in this sector many are struggling to find an income.
The research also found that the highest number of people who were losing their homes across the country lived in Chester. Here there were 53 homes repossessed for every 10,000 homes which is triple the national average.
Not far behind was Oldham which saw 27 repossessions per 10,000 homes and in Darlington there were 26 homes per 10,000.
South
The research also uncovered that there are also places in the south that are suffering and have a high amount of repossessions. These areas include some areas of east London, Essex and Kent.
Two towns that used to be part of Essex but that now fall into the Greater London boundary also have a repossession rate that is 87 per cent above the national average. These towns are Romford and Dagenham.
Luton and Cardiff also made it onto the top 10 list along with Romford, however the other 7 were in the north of the country.
The business development director at e.surv, Richard Sexton said, “Spending cuts, negative real wage growth, falling house prices and public sector unemployment have hit the north much harder than the south.
“This has opened up a gaping geographical divide in repossessions levels.”
Affluent areas of the South where there is little dependence of jobs from the public sector and wealthy retirees have seen the least amount of repossessions. Eight out of the 10 listed for the least likely for repossessions were in the south. However number one on the list was in Northumberland where there is only one repossession per 10,000 homes.