Manchester and Salford are the home repossession capitals for the north west – with one in 60 houses seized in the last year.
Thanks to Sile Martin, tenant at Southway Housing Trust for spotting this article in a Manchester Newspaper:
The shocking figures, revealed by housing charity Shelter, show 1,717 homes were repossessed last year in Salford – proportionally the third highest area outside London.
Housing workers are warning of a timebomb with hard-pressed families and vulnerable individuals risking being thrown out on the street.
In Manchester, 3,356 homes were re-possessed over the same period, or one in every 61 properties.
In total 13, 441 homes across the region were repossessed, either by a landlord when people fell behind with rent or by a bank if they couldn’t keep up with the mortgage.
All the data comes from Ministry of Justice figures on the numbers of repossession orders given out in each area.
In Oldham, one in 69 households were re-possessed, with Tameside and Rochdale facing similar figures at one in 85 and one in 89 respectively.
Trafford had the lowest repossession rates of Greater Manchester at 1 in 159 homes seized, or 593 properties.
Housing charity Shelter are urging people who are struggling to manage their rent or mortgage payments to seek help immediately – and risk losing their home.
Liz Clare, a helpline advisor for the charity, said: “We’re hearing from a growing number of people who’ve reached crisis point and picked up the phone, often with court papers in their hand.
“It’s natural to hope mounting bills and arrears will go away but the best thing to do is get expert advice straight away.
“There’s absolutely no shame in getting help and a specialist adviser can help you see light at the end of the tunnel.”
Charities and housing groups say that recent changes to benefits payments has sent thousands of households spiralling into debt.
It includes a cut to housing benefit of up to 25 per cent for households who have an ‘unused bedroom’, dubbed the bedroom tax by critics but which the government calls the ‘spare room subsidy’.
Many of those affected say they have been unfairly penalised by the lack of alternative housing.
Others changes include housing cash being pad directly to individuals rather than landlords, which has seen some households fall behind.
Booth Centre charity helping tenants find alternative accommodation
A charity helping people made homeless through re-possession says many are tenants paying rent to a landlord – unaware their money is not being passed on to pay the mortgage.
Staff and volunteers at the Booth Centre say most of the people who come to them to help have been diligently paying rent for months – only to discover their landlord is not using it to pay off the mortgage on the property where they live.
And often the first a tenant knows about it is when the repossession notice goes to court – leaving them just weeks to find somewhere new to live.
Staff at the Booth Centre, based off Trinity Way in Manchester city centre, try to help people find alternative accommodation to avoid becoming homeless – but say the experience can be ‘devastating’.
Amanda Croome, CEO of the Booth Centre in Manchester city centre, said: “A lot of people say they have been a good tenant – but the landlord hasn’t paid their mortgage.
“The landlords are often people who have bought three or four houses and are renting them out.
“That’s the most common form of repossession problem that we see. “Often the tenant only finds out when the repossession goes to court.
“By that time we can’t do anything to try to save that person’s home so we would be working to find them alternative accomodation.
“If they have done everything they can as a tenant they have not made themselves intentionally homeless so the council also has a duty to help them.“But for a lot of people it is a devastating experience.
“They have often built up relationships with neighbours and don’t have time to find somewhere round the corner.
“They may also have children in school and a job nearby but be forced to move across the city.”