Co-op: Repossessions down 50%

Britannia and Co-op launch new mortgages

Britannia and The Co-operative Bank will launch new mortgages tomorrow (April 16th).
New fixed-rate mortgages from The Co-op and Britannia

Two new fixed-rate mortgages have been launched by The Co-operative Bank and Britannia.

Monday, 18 May 2009 12:00

The Co-operative Bank revealed repossession rates among its customers fell by 50 per cent last year.

The announcement came as the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed the number of repossessions in the UK were up 50 per cent in a year.

The Co-operative put its conflicting figures down to the fact it had a responsible approach to lending and only used repossession as a last resort.

Over the last 16 months the Co-operative had been involved in eight repossessions, it said. This compared to 16 repossessions in the six months prior to that.

Terry Jordan, head of mortgages at the Co-operative, said: "Our responsible approach to lending has also resulted in a strong mortgage book as we believe in only lending to people what they are able to afford.

"If any of our customers do face difficulties, we have a dedicated team of personal mortgage advisers able to give advice to customers on how to manage their finances and deal with problems at the earliest stage."