Some 3,500 households were last year forced to make a call on a special mortgage guarantee scheme to pay off the debt when they were forced to sell their homes at a loss.

The number of claims is up 70% on 2011, the Nationale Hypotheek Garantie scheme figures show. Divorce was the reason for most of the forced sales, the NHG said.
The national mortgage guarantee was introduced in 1995 to encourage home ownership and currently covers premises valued up to around €320,000. The guarantee means that if people default on a NHG mortgage, a special home ownership fund will pay off the debt.
The average debt left when people sold their homes at a loss last year was €34,000, Nos television reported. House prices in the Netherlands have fallen by around 20% since the economic crisis began in 2008.