25th January 2010: PPR - London's regeneration zones hit by recession

Parts of London’s flagship regeneration zones are seeing record numbers of homeowners trying to sell their homes in a last ditch attempt to avoid repossession.

 

Property Portfolio Rescue (PPR) has seen a surge of enquiries from distressed sellers in areas like Peckham and Lewisham in January - leading government regeneration zones aimed at improving housing stock for existing residents and attracting young professionals to the once run-down parts of the capital, with good transport links as its key selling point.

 

Nick Hopkinson, Director of PPR, comments: “We have been taken aback by the level of calls we have had in the first few weeks of the year concentrated in South London regeneration zones. As well as traditional terraced houses and flats, a number of homeowners are looking to sell new build flats, unable to meet their mortgage payments or remortgage, having overstretched themselves with high loan to value mortgages at the peak of the market on 2007.

 

“Until recently, private homeowners in London have largely been able to scrape along avoiding repossession, with banks’ hands tied behind their backs as to when they can step in. For many, this has only delayed the inevitable. Now, as rising unemployment and falling household income hits all but the prime areas of the capital, a growing number of Londoners are joining the ranks of those in the Midlands and Northern cities who have fallen into serious mortgage arrears and need urgent help.

 

“Mounting personal debt and hefty January credit card bills have helped prompt many to face the reality of their situation and we expect more areas in London to be hit over the next few months. For many others, across the country, it is likely to be too late and we are predicting over 15,000 new repossessions in the first quarter of 2010.”