Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported that the number of home repossessions has fallen again, from 9,800 cases in the first quarter of the financial year to 9,400 in the second quarter.

The statistic behind repossessions is human tragedy which reminds the heartbreaking story of Barry and Amanda Harrison, whose semi-detached house in Coventry was repossessed last year after they were both made redundant from a car factory.

The resultant spiral of debt and depression proved too much for Mr. Harrison and the 47-year-old apparently took his own life after killing his wife. His actions left his kids Aiden, 5 and Owen, 3 orphaned.

He was asked to have his mortgage switched to interest-only for a while to help him through some rough times. The net result is that rather than being helped by the lender he is now being hounded and threatened with repossession.

In Barry Harrison's case, figures from the Land Registry show that the home for which he paid £110,000 in 2005 was sold for £67,950 four years later and the lender lost money by repossessing the home and selling it.

Lenders should avoid repossessing for these financial reasons. But push people out of their homes to get the problem of dealing with arrears off their books.

The Financial Services Authority recognized this problem in January when it proposed to compel lenders to use repossession only as a last resort and it is time to turn those proposals into strict rules.

Financial adviser, Barchester Green warned that some funds invested in stocks may be totally at odds with the aims of the average ethical investor. The funds that win the approval of Barchester include Jupiter Ecology and the IM WHEB Sustainability Fund.

The Zurich Environmental Opportunities Pension Fund has holdings in Shell, BP and Rio Tinto, any of which could put it high on an environmental investor's blacklist. Meanwhile, Jupiter Environmental Opportunities has 10% of its funds invested in the discredited banking sector.

The problem is that many ethical funds invest in companies which may do a little towards helping the environment.