A new report today from Citizens Advice reveals how the dream of home ownership has turned sour for many people on low incomes who have taken out mortgages or secured loans with sub-prime lenders only to end up deep in debt and facing the prospect of homelessness.

Set up to fail shows how dubious advice from brokers, irresponsible lending decisions and aggressive arrears management by sub-prime lenders are driving the current increase in mortgage arrears, court action and repossessions. It also shows how the regulation and safety nets currently in place are failing to protect vulnerable borrowers.

Citizens Advice concludes that government policy encouraging more people on lower incomes to buy their own homes, while a laudable aim, can only work if the problems its report highlights are addressed. The charity makes a series of recommendations which it believes would make home ownership more sustainable for those for whom at present it remains a high risk undertaking – full article