Mortgage-holders hit hard by credit crunch as repossessions soar. More must be done to help home-owners says Sarah Carr

12.56.57pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 9th Sep 2008

Sarah Carr is working with the Lib Dem campaign to give more protection to mortgage-holders.

With the credit crunch biting, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Campaigner, Sarah Carr, has expressed alarm at the rapid increase in mortgage repossession claims at Hereford County Court.

The Ministry of Justice published figures on August 15, 2008 showing that the number of mortgage possession claims between January and June 2008 at Hereford County Court were 37% higher than a year earlier (http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/mortgatelandlordpossession.htm).

Sarah Carr said, "People who lived through the last mortgage crisis under the Conservatives will never want to experience the same situation again. I remember it so painfully that is why I am so alarmed by this increase in Herefordshire.

"In response, I am backing plans put forward by Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor Vince Cable MP launched on 27th August that could stop many people being thrown out of their homes because of the growing mortgage crisis."

The Liberal Democrat proposals include:

· allowing families struggling with repayments to sell all or part of the equity in their house and rent it back from a housing association or private firm to help keep them in their home;

· letting councils and housing associations borrow money to buy up land and empty new homes for use as social housing ;

· giving guidelines to courts to allow homes to be repossessed only in extreme circumstances, making the mortgage lenders' voluntary code binding on all lenders.

Sarah Carr continued, "As many households are struggling to keep up mortgage payments and risk losing their homes, the Labour government is not doing enough to protect people from the worst effects of the mortgage crisis. These are plans that could save many residents of Herefordshire from the trauma of home repossession."

Vince Cable MP said, "The Government seems obsessed with fighting a losing battle to artificially prop up the housing market, rather than finding ways to deal with its worst effects. Ministers must act to help the thousands of families struggling to keep a roof over their heads."