Foreclosures up 24 percent in Britain

LONDON, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Home foreclosures in Britain rose to a 15-year high in the second quarter of 2008, a 24 percent increase from a year ago, the government said.

With unemployment rising to 5.4 percent many fear that more homeowners will lose their homes, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

From April through June, 28,658 homes were repossessed, the newspaper reported.

British economists have said stagflation or a recession may take hold in Britain. Slow economic growth -- predicted by the Bank of England to slow to 0.75 percent in 2009 -- and rising inflation are the conditions that create stagflation. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

On Wednesday, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King, said a recession was possible.