Popham: Labour cost thousands their homes

12.20.00am GMT Sun 22nd Feb 2009

Bristol East Prospective Member of Parliament Mike Popham is dismayed at recent Labour Government figures released this week showing that the number of homes repossessed last year rose by 54% to 40,000.

Mike said:

"Tens of thousands of families are going through the pain and misery of losing their homes while the Government dithers. Just over a year ago Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg asked Gordon Brown whether he accepted the prediction that house repossessions would skyrocket by 50%. "The Prime Minister ignored the warnings and repossessions rose exactly as Nick predicted.

"It is a scandal that Gordon Brown has been sitting on his hands when he has had a whole year to prepare for the worst. The much-publicised Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme announced last year has not yet helped a single family in trouble. The Prime Minister's wasteful complacency means that millions of extra families could be added to already full social housing lists.

If the Government was serious about stemming the tide of repossessions, it would give courts the power to ensure that repossession is the absolute last resort and remove the barriers to allow councils to invest in social housing."