WHEN you only have £15,000 to pay on your mortgage, it must feel like you’re almost there.

Not so – as David Child today attests.

The former circuit board designer from Culham has had to leave his home because he could not keep up the mortgage repayments.

It is a sad story, although the bank has been left with little choice.

But there is a wider issue here.

If we think back to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, mortgages were at the heart of the debt mountain.

And yet home ownership remains a British obsession.

Mr Child’s story is particularly affecting because he had paid so much of the mortgage off.

The mechanics of what will happen to all the money he has given to the bank remain unclear.

He hopes to get cash back on the £400,000 property, although the bank has not confirmed this.

But this story should make us ponder.

Many of us spend years paying monthly bills for a home that we one day want to, finally and completely, own.

It is a pretty common wish – and many happily fulfil it. However, the dream for Mr Child has died.

With mortgage debts in the county running to around £10bn, according to recent figures, we should all take stock.

Mortgages are seen as commonplace debts we will all eventually pay off.

For some, unfortunately, this will never be the case.