According to research by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) of the English housing market, between April 2011 and March 2012, 523,000 were forced to walk away from homeownership after payment problems. That total represented 2% of all English households.

The report said that 59% of those who had given up a home had been forced to sell to avoid getting into arrears or having court action taken by their lender. The remaining 41% of properties were taken over by the lender, either voluntarily or after court action.

The majority (58%) of all outright owners were found to be aged 65 or over, with the report suggesting that most of these had previously held a mortgage but had since paid it off.

It added 64% of new mortgaged-owners were aged between 35 and 54, with just 10% under 35.

DCLG also found that 83% of mortgagors were in full-time work with a further 7% in part-time work and 4% retired.