An increasing number of privately renting tenants are getting evicted
March 31, 2009 by admin
Filed under News, News-Mortgages
A recent report has shown that there has been a rise in the number of privately renting tenants that are being evicted from their rented homes, and this is causing concern amongst many industry officials.
The reason for this is not because the tenants are breaching their tenancies or failing to keep up with the rent, but because the landlords of the properties are defaulting on the mortgage repayments on the properties, leaving the tenants high and dry because the properties are then being repossessed.
According to officials from the housing charity Shelter the figures have become far higher over the past six months, as the recession and the financial crisis has resulted in more and more landlords falling behind with mortgage repayments.
The charity said that in some cases the tenants of the properties were only given a few days notice to move themselves and their belongings from the property, and this is something that the charity has said needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, as the tenants are entitled to greater protection.
One official from Shelter 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.”
A government official stated: “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.”
Tags: tenant evictions, Business and Economy, shelter, home, buy-to-let, Real estate
