Families Struggling To Make Mortgage Payments - Cable

1.25.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 12th Jun 2007

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable MP

Commenting on figures published today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders showing that mortgages are at their least affordable for 15 years, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable MP said: "Many families are now struggling to meet interest payments as house prices and interest rates continue to rise. The ominous warning today from Mervyn King suggests there is at least one more rise in interest rates to come.

"Gordon Brown has been extraordinarily lucky so far, but a combination of an economic slowdown and higher interest rates could spell disaster for large numbers of heavily indebted families.

"A generation of young people are now finding it impossible to get onto the housing ladder except by borrowing at levels which are ludicrous and dangerous. Unfortunately some mortgage lenders are inviting disaster by doing just this.

"If interest rates rise further, many home owners will simply not be able to pay. The figures over the last two years show that although we are not yet at the crisis levels of the early 1990s, the number of repossessions and repossession orders is soaring."