The fact that so many people are being pushed into the quick house sale market isn’t simply because they’ve led luxurious lives or spent their money recklessly. The cost of housing means many people on an average or less than average salary are forced to over borrow. And rather than banks assessing responsibly the affordability levels for a mortgage, for the past few years they were willing to throw huge mortgage packages at customers – up to five times their salary. The result, as interest rates rise and fixed mortgage rates end and are swapped for more expensive variable rates, more homeowners fall into arrears and are left with few options – the quick house sale market being one.

Although the quick house sale market offers to buy property at around 75% of the open market value, the advantages can outweigh this loss. The fact that the quick house sale market can buy property off you in a matter of days is a Godsend for those homeowners desperate to stop repossession in its tracks. And for those who are accumulating expensive debt, it could cost more to put their homes up for sale the traditional way, waiting for months on end for a sale, running the gauntlet of broken chains and a struggling housing market.

The fact that lenders threw mortgages at clients that would be left with over-stretched finances as a result, and that they lent to people with poor credit or bad credit problems, has left the Financial Services Authority to conclude they were reckless. A larger amount of people will get into trouble this year because of high levels of borrowing the FSA has warned. And the business models of some lenders, illustrated by Northern Rock, meant that these lenders were under increasing strain under the adverse market conditions.

There is also a fear that as more people are refused credit and become desperate for cash, not all will use the quick house sale market to salvage their finances – the FSA estimate that there will be an increase in the amount of financial crime. The FSA itself has been criticised by MPs for not spotting the reckless lending of Northern Rock before it ran into trouble.