Darling's repossession help 'doomed to failure'

Government attempts to combat the plague of repossessions across the country are "doomed to failure", it has been claimed.

Managing director of payment protection insurance company Burgesses Sara-Ann Burgess said people will end up homeless because the economic crisis is not likely to ease in the near future, despite the government's measures.

Commenting on Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report announcement that lenders must give mortgage borrowers a three-month period of grace before initiating repossession procedures, Ms Burgess said this is simply postponing the inevitable.

She added: "The government has to be seen to be doing something - unfortunately little of what has been proposed is of real help."

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) agreed that although helping households struggling with mortgage payments is a priority for the government, the number of repossessions is still likely to rise, particularly as unemployment is set to increase.

Despite this, Rics claimed it welcomes the three-month grace period stipulation before lenders resort to repossessions.

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