Alarm grows after news that government's 拢280m mortgage rescue scheme has helped just six households

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable has called repossession a ticking time bomb after it emerged that just six families had been helped by the government's 拢280m mortgage rescue scheme.

He told the Daily Telegraph: 鈥淭he numbers of repossessions are likely to soar in the next two years because of rising unemployment. Temporary government schemes are deferring the problem, not solving it.鈥�

And he warned: 鈥淚f interest rates start to rise next year, the problem will become even more severe.鈥�

Around 1,000 homeowners are being evicted every week, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, with repossessions hitting 12,800 in the first three months of the year, 50% up from this time last year.

The government is understood to have established a new team to fast-track the cases of those most at risk of repossession.

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