Yvette Cooper. Photograph: Linda Nylind

Banks will face new curbs on home repossessions to prevent families from being evicted when they fall into financial difficulties, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has promised.

The pledge was made by Yvette Cooper in an interview with The Observer as the government braces itself this week for official confirmation that Britain is entering recession for the first time since the early Nineties.

Rising unemployment is expected to trigger a wave of mortgage defaults as people who lose their jobs find themselves unable to keep up payments on their homes. Repossessions have already increased to 19,000 in the first half of this year - a 40 per cent increase on the previous six months. Experts believe the figure will climb to 26,000 in the second half of 2008. The total number of people suffering negative equity is expected to rise to around two million as house prices plunge.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/19/banking-repossessions-home-evictions