Home repossessions fell by 51% year-on-year while the north-south divide is also closing, according to e.surv’s latest repossession report.

The research, based on analysis of court-ordered repossessions in England and Wales, found that in 2015, repossessions in the North fell to a rate of 2.1 per 1,000 households, compared with 1.4 per 1,000 in the south, leaving a gap of 0.7 between the two regions.

A year earlier, the difference stood at 1.3 homes per 1,000.

Across England and Wales, total home repossessions declined from 39,928 in 2014 to 19,672 in 2015.

Northern towns are nevertheless responsible for nine in ten repossessions.

Bolton continues to have the highest repossession rate across England and Wales with 3.5 per 1,000 households. It has had the most repossessions  since 2004.

Sunderland closely follows with a repossession rate of 3.1 per 1,000, while Oldham and Liverpool have rates of 3.0 per 1,000 households.

Richard Sexton, director of e.surv Chartered Surveyors, said: “The north is battling to change its reputation as a repossession hotspot. Repossessions overall may be dropping, but the reclaiming of homes remains an acutely northern problem.

“Across the region, almost three-quarters of towns are seeing substantially higher than average repossession rates. Homeowners in Bolton are still, more often than most, struggling to make mortgage repayments and even in Manchester and Liverpool – two of the North’s most prominent cities – repossessions are prevalent.

“The north has faced heightened challenges compared with the south in recent years – the loss of public sector jobs, manufacturing industry decline and a tough recession – all of which hit home owners and potential home buyers.

“However, economic conditions in the North are now receiving more attention, with the Northern Powerhouse initiative and the future promise of devolution drawing more towns into the national spotlight.”