The borrowers have never missed a mortgage payment - but have fallen into negative equity thanks to house price declines.
A Sussex couple are facing repossession proceedings from their mortgage lender - even though they say they have never missed a payment.
Marian and Peter Addyman's £226,000 interest-only mortgage has been called in by RBS, owners of NatWest. After initially taking out the home loan near the market's peak, the couple have fallen into negative equity - meaning that the value of their loan is bigger than the value of their property - due to the current downturn in the property market.
Initially, they received notice from RBS that they were reviewing their mortgage. Then, they received a letter stating that they had 30 days to find a new loan.
"Our decision is final and we are not prepared to enter into any discussion in relation to it," the letter said. With market conditions difficult due to the property downturn, the Addymans failed to remortgage - and thus now face repossession.
Commenting on the case, Which? chief executive, Peter Vicary-Smith, said: "How can a family that has seemingly done nothing wrong face losing their home without any explanation from the bank?
"If there is a good reason for NatWest acting in this way, surely the customer has a right to know what the problem is before they're threatened with losing their home."
