There's no sign of a housing bubble in Chester, Blackpool, Oldham and Wigan as the North/South property repossessions divide stretches to its widest level for six years.
Home repossessions are now 33% higher in the North than the South, with 72% of Northern towns now suffering more repossessions than the UK average, according to research by e.surv chartered surveyors out today.
The North West is the worst region for repossessions, containing four of the worst five towns, Chester, Blackpool, Oldham and Wigan.
Although London is not out of the woods, with areas in Greater London such as Croydon and Romford in the top 10 worst towns for repossessions.
The North-West, Wales and Yorkshire are all repossession hotspots, but there are regional disparities, with rates also rising quickly in some areas of the South West, South East and London.
There were 3.2 repossessions per 1,000 households in the North, a third more than the South, which saw 2.4 repossessions per 1,000 households, according to e.surv's analysis of Ministry of Justice figures.
The good news is that the total number of repossessions has fallen 17% in the year to July, from 77,856 to 66,544. That is a drop from 3.3 repossessions per 1,000 households to 2.8.
Repossessions are closely linked to job losses. The North West has shown the greatest rise in unemployment in the UK, with 9% of the working population out of work, according to the ONS, a 0.8% rise over the last quarter.
Similarly, the North East and Yorkshire also have some of the highest levels of unemployment, with 10% and 9% of the working population idle in these regions.
Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors, said: “On a national level, repossessions are falling, as the economy slowly crawls back to health. Mortgages are becoming cheaper, wages are slowly picking up, and the labour market is showing more vitality.
"But the recovery has been more pronounced in the South, driven forward by booming property and labour markets in the capital and home-counties.
"This has been slow to filter through to the North, where staggeringly, seven out of 10 Northern towns are repossession hot-spots. In areas like Yorkshire and the North West, wages are recovering more slowly, and fewer jobs on offer.
"As a region, the North has traditionally depended on public sector jobs, but a squeeze in public sector funding has led to loss of jobs for many, and very slow pay increases for others. Pay increases that are consistently below the rate of inflation, have further tightened household budgets, and caused many to fall behind on mortgage repayments.”
"There is still a long way to go before the Northern property market returns to its pre-recession health, and all the while the North is still playing catch-up, and falling further and further behind the South.”
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