Tories unveil eviction help
By politics.co.uk staff
The Conservatives have announced proposals to help tenants who face eviction when their home is repossessed.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), some 75,000 homes could be repossessed in the UK this year, and of those, 10,000 would be in the rental sector.
The Tories are calling on the government to extend the ‘warning’ time tenants are given from two weeks to seven; saying with over three million households living in the private rented sector, the government need to take action to protect those tenants who could be affected by repossession.
Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps said: “I am constantly hearing from tenants who have learned that they have just a few days to get out of their home and find a new place to live.
“Many of the lenders repossessing properties are now largely owned by the government, which means they are uniquely positioned to stem the repossession rate.
“Today we’re calling for the government to take up our proposals and help protect hard-working families from suddenly discovering that the roof is about to be taken away from above their heads.”
The Tories are asking for the notice period for tenants to be extended, for lenders to address repossession notices to the tenant and to allow tenants to be heard at repossession hearings. Currently, they are given just 14 days to vacate a repossessed property after a possession order is granted by the courts.
However, the proposals have been criticised by the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), who say they demonstrate a failure by the Tories to grasp the UK rental market.
Ian Potter, operations manager for ARLA, said: “This is just another plain example of politicians failing to understand how the rental sector works.
“Though ARLA, of course, welcomes any additional support for tenants in these tough times, the proposal to bring forward the planned extension of repossession notice to tenants will, in effect, be almost worthless because it comes at the wrong side of the repossession being granted.
“Tenants will receive up to seven weeks’ notice of an order being sought but that assumes that a repossession will be granted – and if it isn’t, and tenants walk away from the property, they will have walked away from a legally binding contract. It would be far more beneficial if the extended notice was granted after a repossession had been granted, which would allow tenants good time to find another property.
“One realistic solution would be for the government to insist that local authorities take more action on the use of empty dwelling management orders (EDMO’s) to ensure that better utilisation is made of the housing stock in the country.”
