Jose Da Costa Diogo, a 65-year-old resident of Thetford, Norfolk, never imagined that after more than two decades of home ownership, he would lose everything. Earlier this year, Jose’s three-bedroom house was repossessed, marking the end of a long, difficult journey that began with high hopes and ended in heartbreak. His story, though personal, is not unique. Across England and Wales, mortgage repossessions have hit a five-year high, and the tales behind the statistics are as sobering as they are numerous.
According to BBC News, mortgage repossession orders in England and Wales soared to 10,853 in 2024-2025, the highest tally seen in half a decade. BBC journalists attended county courts in Northampton, Peterborough, Norwich, Stratford, Wandsworth, and Croydon, hearing firsthand the distressing stories of homeowners and renters facing the loss of their homes. The reasons behind these repossessions are complex, but at their heart are rising unemployment, climbing interest rates, and a cost-of-living crisis that has left many families teetering on the edge.
Jose’s ordeal began more than 20 years ago, when he and his then wife took out an interest-only mortgage, hoping that one day they’d be able to pay off the capital. Life, however, had other plans. The couple divorced, and Jose suffered a workplace injury that left him disabled and unable to work. Unable to pay the £80,000 owed to the bank—and unable to sell the house, since his ex-wife’s name remained on the mortgage and property deeds—Jose was left with no way out. “I tried to do the right thing and carried on paying all the bills,” he told BBC News. “After 25 years, I have nothing to show.”
Jose’s struggle is echoed in courtrooms across the country. In Croydon, for example, a former management consultant and his wife both lost their jobs in 2024, leaving them with £13,000 in mortgage arrears. The prospect of their son losing his childhood home was a heavy blow. As the consultant told the BBC, the house was “the perfect place for us.” The judge gave them until March 2025 to pay the arrears, but the clock is ticking.
In Stratford, the BBC witnessed three homes repossessed in less than an hour at the Magistrates’ Court. Among them was a case involving a tearful woman whose house, with £87,000 in mortgage arrears, was repossessed on November 20, 2025. She hadn’t lived there for 15 years, having left after a marriage breakdown, but the debt had followed her. Another case in Wandsworth saw a tenant of 30 years facing eviction because his landlord needed to raise the rent. In Peterborough, a 75-year-old man living in social housing fell nearly £3,000 into arrears after being scammed. And in Norwich, a single mother owed her landlady £5,200 in unpaid rent, a sum she simply could not pay.
It’s not just those losing their homes who are under pressure. Case workers and solicitors across the courts reported being “overrun” with requests for help. Angus King, a housing solicitor from Southwark Law Centre, told the BBC, “When I began my career, up until a few years ago, I would think to myself ‘that person won’t actually end up homeless.’ I knew we would find some way to keep them from it, but now that simply isn’t the case.” Billy Harding, a housing case worker at Wandsworth County Court, said people were turning up “at crisis point.”
The scale of the problem is staggering. Figures obtained by the BBC from 244 councils across England showed that three-quarters reported a rise in people seeking help to prevent homelessness in 2024-2025. Broxbourne in Hertfordshire had the highest rate, with 95 out of every 100,000 people seeking council assistance. Meanwhile, bailiff repossessions—after dipping during the Covid-19 pandemic—are climbing once more.
Landlords, too, face their own financial pressures. At Norwich County Court, one landlord nervously sought to collect £2,200 in unpaid rent from a tenant who had offered, unsuccessfully, to repair windows instead of paying rent. “That was OK, but he never got back to me about that,” she told the judge. Speaking on behalf of landlords in a separate case, a solicitor argued that landlords have bills and financial issues of their own and cannot be expected to subsidise their tenants indefinitely.
Karina Hutchins of UK Finance, which represents the banking industry, emphasized that seeking to repossess a home is “always a last resort” for lenders. The implication is clear: behind every repossession order is a lengthy process of missed payments, negotiations, and dashed hopes.
The root causes of this crisis are manifold. Andrew Goodwin, senior economist at Oxford Economics, pointed to rising unemployment and interest rates as key factors. The cost-of-living crisis has left many households with little financial buffer, and when unexpected events—like job loss, illness, or divorce—strike, the safety net can quickly unravel. The BBC’s reporting revealed that many people arrive at court with nowhere else to turn, often at the very moment their situation becomes untenable.
For some, the system itself can seem impenetrable. The absence of free legal aid for housing cases, especially in London, combines with unaffordable rents and a chronic lack of housing to create a perfect storm. Angus King, the Southwark Law Centre solicitor, lamented the change he’s seen: where once there was hope of averting homelessness, now the resources simply aren’t there.
Meanwhile, the ripple effects of the Covid-19 pandemic are still being felt. During the pandemic, bailiff repossessions dipped as emergency measures were put in place. But as those protections have faded, the numbers are rising again. The BBC found that requests for council help are up across the board, with local authorities struggling to keep up with demand.
Jose Da Costa Diogo’s story is a testament to the human cost behind the statistics. After 25 years of paying bills, he finds himself without a home, a casualty of circumstances beyond his control. His voice joins the chorus of others—families, single parents, elderly tenants—who are finding that, in today’s economy, a run of bad luck can have devastating consequences.
As the number of repossessions continues to climb, the stories behind the headlines serve as a stark reminder: for many, the dream of home ownership is slipping further out of reach, and the safety nets that once caught the vulnerable are fraying under the strain.
