Rise in number of tenants being evicted
Recently released figures have shown that there has been a sharp rise in the number of tenants that are being evicted from private landlord accommodation, and this is because the landlords are falling into arrears with the mortgage on the property, resulting in the home being repossessed.
The housing charity, Shelter, has said that the rise has become more pronounced over the past six months, as an increasing number of landlords default on their loans.
The charity has raised concerns that the innocent tenants that are in the properties are sometimes just given days’ notice to leave the home, and it has urged the government to “act quickly to give tenants far, far longer”. Ministers have said that new legislation could be coming in from April onwards, and that this could result in tenants being given at least seven weeks notice to move out in this sort of situation, giving them time to find alternative accommodation.
Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson said: “What we’re seeing already is a steep rise in the number of tenants, entirely blameless individuals, who are becoming homeless because their landlords can’t pay their mortgage and their homes have been repossessed. What the government must do is to act quickly to give tenants in those circumstances far, far longer to find themselves somewhere else to live, in a housing market where housing is in desperate short supply.”
Government officials have said: “What we are trying to do is to get rid of the unfairness. If a tenant is up-to-date with rent and if they’re not in arrears, it’s unfair that they have their home taken away from them. We’re trying to work with Shelter and others to protect the tenant as much as possible.”
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