Almost half of UK homeowners who had defaulted on their mortgage during 2012 managed to pay back some of their debt in the first three months of 2013 – according to the latest research by a leading field agency business.
Ascent, part of law firm Irwin Mitchell, launched its Domestic Arrears Report in 2009 to analyse trends in defaulted mortgage debt. The study, which now includes data from over 37,000 households across the UK, incorporates Ascent’s ‘Default Debt Paid’ index (DDP) – a figure which illustrates the proportion of homeowners paying back at least some of their defaulted mortgage arrears.
In the most recent quarter, 48.6 per cent of the 6,800 mortgage defaulters included in the field agency’s study paid off some of their defaulted debt. Significantly, one third paid off all of all their arrears, or an amount greater than one month’s mortgage – a figure which was equivalent to a 30 per cent increase on the previous quarter.
Niall Gilhooley, Chief Executive at Ascent, said: “Many UK consumers tend to find the first three months of the year very challenging from a financial point of view, with many tightening their belts after the Christmas period and ensuring that their household budgets are back on track. When you factor in high fuel bills and an inflation rate still hovering around the 3 per cent mark, the fact that more people are paying back more of their defaulted debt should be viewed positively.”
Ascent began trading in 2009 offering field agency and other support services to a significant number of major financial institutions and other corporates. It has grown strongly since then, with Ascent’s consolidated revenues now exceeding £5m per annum. In August 2012, Ascent was approved as an Alternative Business Structure (ABS) by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
At the beginning of November 2012, Ascent acquired Banbury-based PDP Management Services. The deal made Ascent the market leader in mortgage arrears field agency work with a market share considerably in excess of 25 per cent.
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