Lib Dems want more repossession safeguards

Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader, wants to make financial advice compulsory at the point repossession claims are issued, to ensure "repossession is only a last resort".

He says the rise in repossessions cannot be allowed to become an epidemic because it would "turn a housing market slowdown into a full-on slump". Banks should agree practices to prevent large-scale repossessions such as "allowing those in arrears because of circumstances beyond their control to move to shared ownership arrangements".