Corby`s mortgage debts: English repossession capital

Mortgage debt is blighting Corby, Northamptonshire, the borough with the highest level of repossessions in England. 155 Corby residents received possession orders from the courts in the last financial year alone. That`s the equivalent of 7.6 out of 1,000 privately owned properties, as reported in the Guardian.

West Dorset and Kensington and Chelsea, by comparison, had only 0.8 out of every 1,000 homes repossessed. The second-highest number of repossessions was in Barking and Dagenham, with 6.6 per 1,000.

The news comes as a blow to Corby, which is currently undergoing a period of regeneration and £500m investment. There is a multimillion-pound advertising campaign to attract Londoners to the former steel-working town, branded `North Londonshire`.

An estate agent in the town believes property developers account for the majority of the repossessions. He says, "they clearly haven`t got enough money, but the banks were happy to offer more than 100% mortgages."

Richard Sharp, a valuer at another estate agent, echoes the theory. He says, "A lot of the repos are from investment buyers who are stretching themselves too much."