The amount of mortgage repossession orders made in Pembrokeshire has increased by a shocking 248% government figures have revealed today (Friday).

Statistics released by the Ministry of Justice show that the number of orders made by Haverfordwest county court in the first quarter of 2008 had increased two and a half times since the same time last year.

An order is made in the early stage of the repossession process and is when the court grants an order, usually within 28 days, for the repossession of a home.

In the first quarter of this year Haverfordwest county court made 73 such orders.

The national average for Wales for the same time period was 26% meaning that the Pembrokeshire figure is nearly ten times the national average.

The number of landlord possession orders made are also up by 30%.

The number of repossession claims issued, the first stage of the repossession process where homeowners are threatened with court action, almost doubled in Pembrokeshire for the same period. Government figures show that claims were up 91% compared to the first quarter of 2007.

Christine Davies is Shelter Cymru's housing law caseworker for Pembrokeshire. She says that she has seen a sharp increase in the amount of people with repossession orders.

"We are seeing more and more people coming to us specifically for mortgage arrears," she said. "The workload has increased significantly in the last six months.

"Pembrokeshire is now fifth on the list of national repossessions. I honestly don't know why we are experiencing such an increase.

"When I was first in post here four years ago mortgage repossessions were not that common. Now we are having people in on a weekly basis at risk of repossession."

Christine stressed that early action was extremely important and that a repossession order did not necessarily mean that a homeowner would loose their property.

"People often bury their heads in the sand and leave it too late," she said. "We can often help people get possession orders suspended so that they can retain their homes.

"If you receive a repossession claim you really need to get legal advice. You shouldn't go to court alone. This is where we can help.

"In a lot of cases the court does have the discretion to suspend the order if people can show that they can repay their debts in a reasonable amount of time.

"If you are facing repossession it is really important to get advice in good time."

You can contact phone Pembrokeshire's Shelter Cymru office on 08450755005.

1:05pm Friday 9th May 2008

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