I bet it will all be worse next year.

judy, Liverpool, England

Totally unheard of in Canada.

Harriet Greenwood, Vancouver, BC, Canada

One of the reasons that people are being repossessed in greater numbers is that they can't sell their own properties before it happens as has been true in the past. Even if they are very realistic with the price the catastrophic lack of activity in the market is creating a vicious circle.

Chris R, York, UK

The banks lend extravagantly when house are overpriced and won't lend when they're cheaper. Where's the logic in that ?
Who ends up with the houses ?

Terry, Guildford, UK

Before getting too emotive on this subject, how many of these 'repossessed' properties are part of BTL portfolios? How many are of people who have been fiscally profligate by living on equity withdrawl. Remember that plenty of people have brought these 'repossessions' upon themselves.

Paul, Coventry,

The repossession figures come as no real surprise. The resales at knockdown auction value will depress the market further. The situation will get far worse once higher power bills and gas kick in. No tinkering with Stamp Duty will assist. It is a further disaster for Gordon Brown

V Cooper, Somerset, UK

Justin, London - I think you will find that the Local Authority housing stock is actually a source of revenue for Councils so I'm baffled as to how Council tenants are "subsidised" by the tax payer? (unless of course they are claiming housing benefit? Which I dont believe Yvonne mentioned?)

Dave, Cardiff, Wales

2.5% stamp on properties over £150,00 & 5% on properties over £250,000?! - how does that help?

neil, Nottingham,

It's all very well saying rent, but what if an interest only loan is less than rent, and you have a little capital and can't get a council flat because you work and aren't pregnant? You are already poor and struggling, and now the government's ship is sinking and taking you with it. Yes: revolution

C Smith, Norwich, UK

(1) Investments are only a risk when you rely on their worthiness; invest in things you can afford!
(2) Don't be a victim only you are responsible for your own financial well being!
(3) Down size to a house you need not want!

pat, saltaire, united kingdom

The government needs to change the way it supports low-paid and newly unemployed with their mortgages. A tenant renting a flat would get help with their rent immediately if they lost their job, a home-owner has to wait 39 weeks for help. Work for more than 16 hours a week and all help disappears

Carol, Bognor Regis, uk

In the last house price correction in the late eighties/early ninties they bought in a new rule that when you took out a mortgage you had to take out insurance to cover the mortgage if things went pear shaped. In theory this would prevent repossessions. Wonder what happened.

Gill Turner, Truro, England

House prices are still absurdly high. Anyone care to tell me how a couple both earning the average UK wage can (a) afford a decent sized home and (b) have anything resembling a social life? Prices in the south east need to drop by at least 50%. Bring forth the recession.

Farrukh, Woking,

What a great idea! Increase the 4% on houses over £500,000 to 5% to pay for a stamp duty holiday at the lower levels.
Another example of socialist manipulation.
Anyway, a fool can see that whatever he does with stamp duty, Darling will not be helping those in danger of repossession.

Paul Savage, Lambourn, UK

Housing prices are far too high, this adjustment is long overdue. There is a long way to go before it effects the upper price range, and second homes. The Gvt should leave it to 'market forces' to sort out the correct price range for housing, if they hold their nerve people will afford to live local

wendy, London,

Banks are the new robber barons what do you exspect from them?They want this to happen so they can control the peasants.

Les , st helens, england

Why dont we just pay less taxes so we can afford to put a roof over our heads?

steve tea, manchester, cheshire

A Stamp Duty holiday will not work. Mortgages have tightened (and not before time) so people cannot borrow. They are also nervous of buying in a falling market. House prices needed to fall & the market is adjusting. The Govt shdn't interfere to reinflate the housing bubble - it will only defer pain

Donna Walker, Effingham, England

GB has not had a realestate price correction in my lifetime. We get them every 10 or 20 years here in the US. In my state CT, we had a real bad one in the early 90's. We are probably one of the few places in the US affected little. Gota live within your means always put down 20%.

Paul Bahre, Granby, USA

Looks like house price fall and repossessions is gathering speed just like in the US. The US house prices have been falling since 2006 and still falling with no end in sight. Here in the UK, we should have another 18 months more to go, twice as expensive hence double the fall of the US ie. 50% Ouch

Jerry, Darlington, Durham

So people are losing their homes...so what....I nearly lost mine years ago due to being overstretched. But I knew the score and no-one helped me out. I had to sell and downsize it was that simple. All this moaning about house prices, repossessions, interest rates etc makes me sick.

David, Nottingham,

Remember the miss-selling scandal of endowment policies and the subsequent payback to duped consumers? I wonder if the banks have more to worry about than they realise.

john smith, Leeds,

This was the bank's plan all along. Lend more than the people can afford, have a good crisis, charge large penalties fees for non payment, and repossess the lent money many years before term and start all over again. Nice quick profit.
A typical method used during war time to become very rich fast.

Lauren, London,

Yvonne, so you lived off the tax payer by living in a council house while you saved? Surely that meant somebody who really needed your property was denied it. Well done, you seemed to have played the system very well!

A Thorn, London,

The banks and the government have learnt and well, this is how they make money, by screwing people. They publicly cry that things are tough and secretly wring their hands in glee. In the meantime they invest in wars and real money making ventures. This is the way of the globalised world we live in.

Steve Payne, Valencia, Spain

start by banning mindless tv programs where a splash of emulsion, six neatly arranged scatter cushions with matching curtains and a supposedly ligitimate estate agent can increase the selling price of an already way overvalued property by another 30%

Hary, Hull, Britain

mass reposssessions are short-sighted and self defeating. suddenly large swathes of security are worthless as the price of houses falls across the board. better leave the poor people be and charge them a little rent

peter c, devizes, wessex

Yvonne - not everyone wants to live until their late 40s being subsidised by the tax payer and then buy at a price again subsidised by the tax payer. some people actually want to get on in life and have aspirations.

Justin, London,

No doubt the word repossession will soon be banned and replaced with ‘involuntary or unscheduled transfer of title’.

Jonathan, Oxfordshire, England

This is just going to get far worse with all the years of dodgy lending and future predicted/needed interest rises.

The sooner house prices fall to affordable levels and lending becomes more sensible the better.

There should be charges brought against all those who irresponsibly lent.

Gavin, London,

Woooo! Repossessions! Time for bargain hunting, methinks!

Matt, Milton Keynes, UK

I agree with P Davis. If you can't afford the mortgage repayments, then don't purchase property. I bought my first home only when I reached my late 40s, under the Council's Right to Buy. I cleared the mortgage so now I'm debt-free, but that's because I didn't borrow more than I could pay back.

Yvonne, Doncaster, UK

Hey Andy, banks won't be looking to extend loan periods. If anything, they will ask for the LTV adjustment paid (as with BTL mortgage) and increase any arrangment fee's. If somebody has trouble with a mortgage for market valuations, imagine their troubles when the BOE rate rises. Caveat emptor.

Stephen, Aberdeen,

Andy, worthing, uk --- No, no, no - this approach is too logical - can't expect the banks/building societies to understand this!

anna, fl, usa,

In response to Andy from Worthing, why borrow when you cannot afford? why the rush and need to 'climb the property ladder'? I have not bought a house because I cannot afford it. Why did these people have to buy? Why not rent?

P Davis, Manchester,

Hundreds of thousands facing re-posession and what does the Government do about it; think about maybe suspending stamp duty; Boy is that going to help!

Martin, Poole, UK

Revolutions have been made from less then this.

Chris, London,

Andy, that would only work for homeowners on a repayment mortgage, whereby the capital would be reduced due to the longer repayment term. The interest part of the repayment mortgage stays the same just as if you were on an interest only mortgage.

Shaun, Gloucester, UK

This is just the start. When people stop paying sub 5% and start having to pay 7% plus they will find that their repayments will jump by roughly a third. People will struggle. They wil get through Xmas. Banks will start repossesion orders in New Year so expect high repossession figure June 09.

Rupert, London, UK

Why do the banks never learn !!! Rather than repossession, why not REDUCE the mothly cost by EXTENDING the loan period. Maybe I'm being simplistic but surely this would have the benefit of homeowners Not loosing homes, and banks making More money from the extended interest period ....?

andy, worthing, uk