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The Government is doubling the funding available to give people who face losing their home free legal advice in court.
Housing Minister John Healey said the Government was increasing the extra money for the service from £750,000 to £1.5 million.
The service offers free on-the-spot legal help to people in England who are in court facing having their home repossessed or being evicted from rented accommodation.
These court desks have previously been funded through Legal Services, but the extra Government money has helped to double the number of desks in crown courts to cover all courts in England.
Mr Healey said: "It is real backstop help for those closest to the point of losing their home. All's not lost, even in court. In four out of five cases, the court desk advisers stop immediate repossession or eviction."
The announcement comes as the Financial Services Authority is expected to publish figures showing an increase in the number of people who had their homes repossessed during the first quarter of the year.
Figures previously released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed a 50% jump in repossession levels during the three months to the end of March with 12,800 people losing their homes.
However, the CML has recently indicated that it is considering revising down its forecast for repossessions for this year from its near-record level of 75,000.
The Government has introduced a range of initiatives to help people avoid losing their homes, including the Homeowner Mortgage Support scheme, under which people can defer up to 70% of interest on their mortgage for up to two years.
It has also increased support for mortgage interest and introduced the Pre-Action Protocol under which courts can only grant repossession orders as a last resort. But recent figures showed that only two families have so far benefited from its mortgage rescue scheme.
Fund to fight repossessions doubled - Yahoo! News UK
Housing Minister John Healey said the Government was increasing the extra money for the service from £750,000 to £1.5 million.
The service offers free on-the-spot legal help to people in England who are in court facing having their home repossessed or being evicted from rented accommodation.
These court desks have previously been funded through Legal Services, but the extra Government money has helped to double the number of desks in crown courts to cover all courts in England.
Mr Healey said: "It is real backstop help for those closest to the point of losing their home. All's not lost, even in court. In four out of five cases, the court desk advisers stop immediate repossession or eviction."
The announcement comes as the Financial Services Authority is expected to publish figures showing an increase in the number of people who had their homes repossessed during the first quarter of the year.
Figures previously released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed a 50% jump in repossession levels during the three months to the end of March with 12,800 people losing their homes.
However, the CML has recently indicated that it is considering revising down its forecast for repossessions for this year from its near-record level of 75,000.
The Government has introduced a range of initiatives to help people avoid losing their homes, including the Homeowner Mortgage Support scheme, under which people can defer up to 70% of interest on their mortgage for up to two years.
It has also increased support for mortgage interest and introduced the Pre-Action Protocol under which courts can only grant repossession orders as a last resort. But recent figures showed that only two families have so far benefited from its mortgage rescue scheme.
Fund to fight repossessions doubled - Yahoo! News UK
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