Published by Max Salsbury for

24dash.com

Monday 13th August 2012

 

Homeless charity Crisis has reported a 70% rise in evictions over the last three years.
Crisis’ analysis of Ministry of Justice Statistics revealed that 36,211 private landlords have been granted a court order to evict tenants in the last year.

This figure was up 12% on the previous 12 months and is 70% higher than the 21,351 court orders granted three years ago.

Duncan Shrubsole, Director of Policy at Crisis, said: “Sadly it is no surprise that we are seeing tens of thousands of private tenants facing eviction. They face a dreadful combination of high unemployment and underemployment, draconian cuts to housing benefit and soaring rents.

“Our concern is that many of these people will have nowhere to turn, and end up falling victim to homelessness. In fact government’s own statistics point to this already happening.”

Crisis’ analysis is backed-up by statutory homelessness statistics which show that between 2009 and 2011 the number of people approaching their council as homeless due to the end of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy or rent arrears went up by 42%, to almost 10,000 households.

Recent findings from the National Landlords Association also paint a picture of struggling households in the private rented sector, with 49% of landlords experiencing rental arrears over the last year.

Shrubsole continued: “We are calling on the government to rethink cuts to housing benefit that will inevitably leave increasing numbers of people unable to pay the rent. We are also in desperate need of more social and affordable housing in order to reign in the soaring rental market.”