Six out of ten people who have defaulted on their mortgages are now making repayments.
Law firm Irwin Mitchell says that this proportion is ‘significantly higher’ than in 2008 and 2009.
The firm’s field agency Ascent, analysed data for its Domestic Arrears Report from over 24,000 households which missed mortgage payments and subsequently had debt counselling on behalf of their lender.
During the last three months, it found that the proportion of home owners who paid off some of their mortgage arrears increased by 11.1% in the quarter to 60.3%. By comparison, just 36% of home owners were paying their arrears in Q3 of 2009.
It also found that people in arrears with their mortgage are also now paying back larger chunks of their defaulted debt.
Out of the 2,652 who received debt counselling during the second three months of 2012, almost 43% paid an amount back equivalent to one or more than one month’s mortgage –compared with 27% who paid this amount in the last three months of 2009.
Niall Gilhooley, chief executive at Ascent, said: “It appears that despite financial hardship, families are doing all they can to hold on to their home.”
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