Figures from the Financial Services Authority have shown that over the course of 2008 the level of home repossessions increased by around two thirds, as an increasing number of homeowners struggled to keep up with their mortgage repayments in the difficult financial climate.

The FSA figures show that the level of home repossessions increase by 68 percent last year, with 46,750 properties being seized over the course of the year.

This compares with home repossessions of just 27,900 over the course of the previous year, and the FSA data shows just how sharply repossession numbers have increased between 2007 and 2008. The data also showed that the number of people that had fallen behind on their repayments on their home loans had increased by over 30 percent in the final three months of last year.

The FSA said that since 2007 the number of people falling behind with their mortgage repayments had been steadily rising, and with the financial and economic climate becoming increasingly difficult this is a figure that could continue to increase.

The home repossession figures that were released by the FSA were far higher than those previously released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders, which indicated that only 40,000 homeowners had lost their properties to repossession over the course of last year compared to the 68,000 reported by the FSA.

The difference in the figures between the two agencies comes down to the fact that the CML only bases its figures on its own members, whereas the FSA draws figures from all regulated lenders. Over the last three months of last year home repossession numbers were 60 percent higher than the same period a year earlier, although they were down slightly compared to the previous quarter of last year.

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