Private Tenancy Evictions Up By 17%

The number of tenants being evicted through the courts by private landlords has increased by 17% since the credit crunch began at the end of 2007.

Analysis of possession order claims by legal information specialist Sweet & Maxwell shows that 14,895 were launched in county courts by private landlords in 2011 compared to 12,686 in 2008. A possession order legally entitles a landlord to evict a tenant and regain possession of a property.

The firm says unemployment and rising rents are likely to have caused the increase in tenant evictions. Rents have risen by 8% since 2009, reaching a record high at the end of 2011, according to the LSL rental index.

Data published by the Office for National Statistics in February showed that the number of UK unemployed rose to 2.67 million in the three months to December 2011 – the highest level since 1995.

"Rising unemployment will obviously have an immediate and clear impact on an individual's expenditure and financial obligations," said Daniel Dovar, co-author of Residential Possession Proceedings, published by Sweet & Maxwell.

"Many landlords may feel they have little option other than to evict tenants who are not paying full rent and who can no longer guarantee that their rent will be paid in the foreseeable future."

Tenants who are unemployed can claim for housing benefit. But the government introduced lower limits which restricted the amount paid out to tenants signing up to new rental contracts in 2011 and renewing existing ones in 2012.

The limits have caused shortfalls between the amount of benefit paid to tenants and the rent charged by landlords, particularly in London and the south-east where rents are highest.

But while David Cameron has stated that the lower housing benefit limits will force landlords to reduce rental levels, rents in these areas have continued to rise as high levels of demand mean landlords can easily replace tenants in arrears.

Full article HERE

The emphasis on the final paragraph was added by myself, as I feel this is possibly one of the most important parts of the entire article (though seemingly glossed over afterwards).

I've said before that it is a big worry between myself and my wife that if our benefits are cut, or canceled, we run the risk of not being able to pay our rent, or bills, or buy ourselves food, so that paragraph really strikes home for us.

My wife & I received a letter from our renting agency that our rent was increasing again; it's only a marginal increase, but over time it really builds up. If we suffer a cut in our benefits, then this could severely effect our ability to pay rent (obviously we would have to use the little extra money we get to top up the rent payments, which would have a knock on effect on the amount of food we could buy, etc.).

Once again it seems that the government are focusing on cutting and reforming entirely the wrong sectors of the welfare system, putting families and other people that rent their property at risk of either becoming homeless (which in turn means that the government has to spend more money on supporting them) or suffering various issues such as having to eat less.

The current government appears incapable of thinking ahead unless the idea is practically stroking their ego (hello Big Society), and are seemingly unwilling to consider the consequences of their actions. Given that the the government are meant to represent the citizens of their country, it feels disheartening to learn that they will not consider those that are sorely in need of that consideration.