It has been suggested that the repossession figures given to us by the Government are bogus and in fact, twice as many homeowners may have lost their homes than suggested by the Government.

It is thought that the figures are not telling the true tail, as they are not counting the number of homeowners who have taken sell and rent back offers to avoid losing their homes. A spokesperson for the Tory party said that if these were taken into account then the figures would double.

A sell your house and rent it back deal is offered by companies as a way of allowing homeowners to stay in their home by paying rent that is affordable after selling to avoid repossession. For instance, if I were faced with mortgage arrears, and could not catch up on them, I would be looking at losing my home. However a company buying my home would give me cash allowing me to pay off the mortgage and then I rent back my home and live in it as the tenant by paying rent that was more affordable than the mortgage repayments. I would also have the chance of buying back the property in the future if my circumstances allowed.