The Petition

Dear Gordon Brown,

We've just lived through a period of extreme recklessness in mortgage lending. This was tolerated and even encouraged by politicians and the financial authorities. Now, while bankers are bailed out, more and more families are losing their homes through repossession.

This crisis was caused by reckless lending, which inflated house prices. Many potential homeowners had no choice but to borrow heavily to secure the roof over their heads. Now the credit bubble has burst, the government and financial authorities must face up to their responsibility and safeguard people's homes.

We call on the government to:

• legislate for an immediate moratorium on the repossession and sale of any home which is the owner's primary residence


• develop an urgent plan of action for government agencies to ensure that people in mortgage arrears can remain in their homes at a fair, affordable rent.

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220,000 homeowners are now more that 3 months in arrears on their mortgage. It's predicted there will be twice as many repossessions in 2009 as in 2008. Each time someone's home is repossessed it's a personal disaster: health worsens, children's schooling is disrupted and families are dragged into a spiral of poverty. Our neighbourhoods suffer too: one empty, repossessed house on a street is enough to drag house prices down for everybody. House prices in freefall is bad news for the economy as a whole.

Gordon Brown has the power to break this chain. Repossessions aren't inevitable. The government has already come up with some alternatives, that allow people to stay in their homes while they get back on their feet. But so far, these programmes haven't been helping enough people. And some banks aren't bothering with them at all. Tell the government to rediscover its nerve, stand up to the banks and stop repossessions until the economy is out of recession.

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If you're a UK taxpayer, you probably already know that you've become the proud part-owner of several banks. But despite our generosity towards them, our bankers aren't showing the same kindness to their mortgage customers. The government has the power to stop this and help people stay in their homes. Sign up to get Gordon Brown to stop repossessions until our economy is in recovery.