LONDON (Reuters) - The number of homes repossessed by lenders in Britain rose to 12,800 in the first three months of this year from 10,400 in the fourth quarter of last year, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said on Friday.
That was also higher than the 8,500 repossessions in the first quarter of 2008, the CML said.
The CML said although repossessions were still rising, its forecast for a full-year tally of 75,000 looked pessimistic and it expected to revise it lower.
The number of loans with arrears of more than 2.5 percent of the mortgage balance rose by 12 percent from 182,600 in the fourth quarter of 2008 to 205,300 in the first quarter of this year. That was 62 percent up on the 127,000 in the first quarter of 2008.