The CML predict that if this rate continued through 2016, it would put the annual number of repossessions at 8,400, lower than any year since 1982 (when there were only 6.9 million mortgages, against 11.1 million mortgages today).
Mortgage arrears also continue to fall. For the first time in more than a decade, the number of mortgages in arrears of 2.5% or more fell below the 100,000 mark, with 96,200 loans in arrears at the end of March, down from 101,700 at the end of December, and 111,200 at the end of the first quarter of 2015.
However eviction rates remain much higher, especially in the social rented sector. There were 42,728 rental evictions in England and Wales by county court bailiffs in 2015, against 5,594 mortgaged property repossessions by county court bailiffs, even though the rented sector accounts for only around a third of the housing stock.
Arrears rates are still higher among home-owners than buy-to-let landlords, and former RICS chairman Jeremy Leaf, believes that "as the restrictions on buy-to-let start to bite... we expect the number of evictions to rise as landlords find it hard to meet their obligations and have no choice but to sell".
CML director general Paul Smee said:
"We cannot completely avoid the risk of any individual household experiencing arrears or repossession. But lenders continue to work very effectively to help their borrowers through periods of difficulty when they do occur, and borrowers should be reassured that most cases of arrears can be resolved and will not lead to repossession."
Jonathan Harris, director of mortgage broker Anderson Harris, added that "the fact that lenders are prepared to be flexible and show forbearance that is keeping repossessions at bay".
