HML has predicted that 33,257 will be repossessed in 2011, the equivalent of 0.3% of all homes with a mortgage.
Yet, the group said that repossessions are likely to fall during the first half of 2011 to 15,557 and then rise during the second half of the year to 17,700.
HML added that, as pressures continue to mount on borrowers, the number of repossessions will rise in 2012 to between 35,000 and 40,000.
HML’s repossession forecast for 2011 is considerably lower than the CML’s prediction of 40,000 and the reported 2010 total of 36,300 repossessions.
Neil Warman, chief commercial and finance officer at HML, said: “Despite the challenging economic environment, the downward trend in repossessions we saw last year is set to continue for the first half of this year.
“However, repossessions will then begin to rise during the second half as a number of macroeconomic factors start to impact on homeowners and influence lender behaviour.”
He added: “Of particular concern this year will be the impact of rising inflation and interest rates on hard-pressed homeowners and the effect of continuing job losses. However, these are unlikely to feed through into increased repossessions during the early part of this year.”
Warman said that increased affordability pressures for borrowers who are in work, together with the lagged effect of job losses in the public sector and benefit cuts, would lead to a slight increase in repossessions during the second half of the year.
Northern Ireland is expected to be hit the hardest with 2,540 (0.83%) repossessions forecast this year. HML said that this reflected the 10.2% fall in house prices that occurred in the region last year.
It forecast that Wales will also see above average repossession rates of 1,914 (0.37%), while in London, around 4,160 (0.34%) people are expected to lose their homes and 3,406 (0.33%) in the West Midlands.
The lowest proportion of people losing their home is in the South West where it is predicted that up to 1,829 (0.18%) homes could be repossessed this year.
