Homeowners stuck on expensive mortgages fear losing their homes after the government shot down their calls for help.
Having weathered the struggles of the pandemic, many are now suffering further financial hardship.
A lot say their mental health has suffered and some even fear divorce.
These 'mortgage prisoners' took out homeloans in the days of easy credit before the financial crash of 2007.
Afterwards, the financial regulator brought in tougher financial hurdles to taking out a mortgage.
These backfired on many existing homeowners, who found they could not meet the new rules and remortgage when their deals ended.
This left them stuck paying inflated payments on their lenders' standard variable rates - which kick in after a mortgage term ends.
Now a group called UK Mortgage Prisoners fear that many people are about to lose their homes as a government ban on repossessions ended at the start of the month.
Rachel Neale, lead campaigner at UK Mortgage Prisoners, said: "Repossessions are coming. So many people have lost their jobs, or become ill. They can no longer afford the amount of money they've been paying. Some have attempted suicide."
The group wrote to City Minister John Glen asking for an extension to the repossession holiday for mortgage prisoners. But this week Glen wrote back saying no.
His letter said: "While this issue is unfortunately a complex one, I nevertheless remain committed to this issue and to establishing whether any practical and proportionate solutions can be found for borrowers with inactive firms."
We have spoken to two mortgage prisoners who now fear losing their homes - both who want to stay anonymous in case going public makes their problems worse.
'I sold my things to pay my bank'
One is a 51-year-old male paramedic, who says he has worked 60 hours a week to pay his mortgage over the last decade.
He bought a house in 2003, near Cambridge, and in 2006 got an interest-only mortgage with lender GMAC.
In 2007, he got a buy-to-let mortgage on a second property in Cambridge.
Then the 2008 financial crash changed everything. His mortgage was taken over by a lender called Mortgage Agency Services Number 5, or MASS No.5, which is part of the Co-op Bank.
He was unable to remortgage, and at points was paying a monthly rate of 6%, now 5.35%. But the average mortgage rate in April was 2.02%, according to Bank of England data.
Some homeloans cost less than 1%.
Struggling under the weight of the repayments, in 2019 he had a car accident and was hospitalised.
He said: "I was paying my mortgage from a hospital bed. I was selling things on eBay to pay my mortgage."
Then the pandemic hit. The mortgage prisoner, who has a reduced immune system, could not work.
He got a six-month mortgage payment holiday, as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ordered all lenders to allow this to anyone who asked.
But this has ended, and he now fears he will be repossessed.
His lender calls, texts or sends a letter every week chasing him for payments, which he describes as "very stressful" and the work of "absolute vultures".
Perhaps trying to be helpful, his lender even gave him money-saving tips to help him pay - including to shop in cheap supermarkets.
He is uncertain about the future, but thinks talks with his lender have come to a stalemate, and that it has decided his mortgage is unsustainable.
Are you a mortgage prisoner? Contact sam.barker@reachplc.com
A Co-op Bank spokesperson said: "The Co-operative Bank recognises the difficulties faced by customers who could be considered as mortgage prisoners and we continually seek proactive ways we can support them.
"We remain committed to providing support to our customers and we welcome the introduction of any further regulatory initiatives on this issue."
'The bank could take my house'
The second mortgage prisoner, 56, is the director of a small software company and lives in the North Leeds area.
He fears repossession if his lender doesn't let him refinance the arrears he's fallen into - which he thinks they may not do.
He is married with two children, but has not told his wife about how bad the situation has become, and fears she will divorce him if he does.
He took out a mortgage with failed lender Northern Rock in 2007, paying a decent rate - for the time - of around 4%.
His mortgage later got transferred to NRAM, the government-owned lender that took over Northern Rock mortgages when it went under.
It then sold his mortgage to Heliodor Mortgages, owned by a company called Computershare.
The prisoner, a cancer survivor, pays a rate of around 4.19%.
"It is very stressful, it is not easy, and I do think 'this is my fault' sometimes," he said.
But the burden of the high monthly payments of around £1,000 a month means he has fallen into arrears of around £12,000.
He said the mortgage makes up "a massive proportion of my take-home salary".
To make the repayments, the prisoner has fallen into a spiral of debt.
Some months he will not pay utility bills in order to make the mortgage payments, then will switch the next month, which he acknowledges is "like robbing Peter to pay Paul".
He wants the arrears to be added to the mortgage in a refinancing deal, but says Heliodor have so far not responded to his request.
He thinks repossession is on the cards.
The prisoner said: "I can't tell you how stressful it is - it's a nightmare. I call them 'Hell's Door'. I know some other mortgage prisoners, especially single women, are in really dire straits, but sometimes I feel really down about it."
A Heliodor spokesperson said: "We have written to all of our customers that might benefit from changing lender to clearly set out their options.
"We impose no unnecessary restrictions on those who wish to switch, and we will also waive any early repayment charges to customers with fixed-term mortgages who chose to move to another lender.
"Creating a payment plan that suits an individual’s needs can help relieve financial pressure on borrowers, and we offer a range of forbearance options for customers that experience difficulties.”
Uncertain future for mortgage prisoners
There is no immediate hope for many prisoners facing repossession besides individual talks with their banks.
The FCA is doing a review of mortgage prisoners to try to understand their situation better, and will report by November.
Earlier this month a proposed cap on SVRs was put into legislation called the Financial Services Bill by the House of Lords.
This would have limited how much mortgage prisoners paid, but was voted down in the House of Commons.
