Tenants at increased risk of repossessions
06/08/2015
Tenants face being evicted from their homes through no fault of their own when their landlords get into mortgage arrears, according to a report from Citizens Advice.
Citizens Advice have published a new report called Renting in the Recovery, which shows that up to 6,800 tenants are evicted from their homes at short notice every year thanks to their landlords falling behind on their mortgage payments.
Tenants in the private sector are often not protected if a landlord gets their house repossessed, and the report showed that sometimes tenants are unaware of any problems at all until the bailiffs show up.
Citizens Advice are now concerned that more landlords could be failing to make mortgage payments thanks to the looming base rate increase, leading to more tenants being evicted. Tenants whose landlords don’t have a buy-to-let mortgage or haven’t had agreement from the mortgage lender to rent out the property are at particular risk. Many tenants are unaware that they are entitled to a two month warning from their landlord if their property is being repossessed.
Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“Thousands of renters are being repossessed with little or no warning.
“Citizens Advice helped one tenant who was given only three days’ notice to leave his home when his landlord’s property was repossessed. As interest rates rise, there is a risk that more tenants will face repossession and the prospect of homelessness.
“Banks have an opportunity to help tenants whose landlords have the wrong mortgage by making sure they inform tenants face-to-face of their rights if they are at risk of losing their home.”
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