Britain's rising tide of debt is pushing more people into financial crisis, causing the rate of bankruptcy to hit record levels in Scotland and creating a surge in the number of homes being repossessed.
Figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders yesterday showed repossessions had shot up by 30% during the first half of the year as homeowners struggle with rising interest rates.
Meanwhile, there was a 23% increase in the number of Scots being sequestered, the Scottish term for bankruptcy, in the second quarter of 2007 compared with the same period last year.
Analysts warned consumer lending was rising and that householders, currently paying an average £8841 in personal debt, faced further financial pressure as the effect of accumulative interest rate rises kick in.
The Bank of England has raised interest rates by 1.25 percentage points since August 2006.
Though the overall level of insolvency in Scotland fell between May and July compared with last year, this was because of a significant drop in people entering into protected trust deeds (PTDs) - an agreement to pay creditors reduced payment which stops short of full bankruptcy.
The trend away from PTDs has also been seen south of the border and has been blamed on creditors seeking to recover a higher proportion of debt - though they risk being paid nothing if individuals are sequestered.
Bryan Jackson, who is a corporate recovery partner with PKF accountancy firm, said: "The figures indicate creditors are taking a harder view on personal insolvency and not agreeing to payment negotiations through PTDs resulting in a number of individuals being sequestrated which, ironically, usually means creditors get a lower dividend."
According to figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders, 14,000 homes in the UK were repossessed during the six months to the end of June, 18% more than the previous six months and 30% above the same period last year.
In England and Wales, bankruptcies have dropped over the last two quarters but were still up by 4.2% compared with the same period last year.
The group warned that the higher risk involved in lending to people who would be turned down by mainstream lenders meant arrears were more likely to translate into repossessions, and this was likely to happen earlier.
Shelter, the homelessness charity, said homeowners were being "hammered" by interest rate rises and accused "irresponsible lenders" of granting mortgages to people who could not afford them.
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