Enquiries from distressed homeowners remained at a historic high in Q4 2009, but have jumped higher in January 2010 as homeowners in less affluent areas of London and the main Midlands and Northern cities deal with mortgage and credit card debt.

Property Portfolio Rescue (PPR), the UK based property recovery firm, produces a quarterly forecaster, using its enquiry levels from distressed sellers to measure the current situation and forecast future mortgage possessions, liquidations and unemployment

PPR’s distressed seller enquiries for Q4 2009 remain at Q3 levels, but are up 17% on Q4 2008. Enquiries in so-called ‘up and coming’ parts of South East London have risen by by 55% year on year in January.

The firm also reported that Repossessions rose in Q3 2009 and over 15,000 new possessions are forecast for Q1 2010.

Nick Hopkinson, director of Property Portfolio Rescue, said: “The number of enquiries received by PPR remained at Q3 levels at the end of last year