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Action urged to protect tenants
Friday, March 13 12:05 am
The Conservatives have urged action to protect tenants when their landlord's property is repossessed.
Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps warned that thousands of people could be affected.
And he added that the tenants could be evicted from their homes with little or no warning.
Authorised tenants are given just 14 days to vacate a repossessed property after a possession order is granted by the courts.
And if the landlord did not have permission to let his property then the tenant could have just days to leave.
With the recession set to prompt a significant rise in repossessions, Shapps called on ministers to take a series of steps to tackle the problem.
These include an increased notice period for any court repossession hearing and encouraging courts and lenders to allow tenants to be heard at repossession hearings.
Lenders could also consider allowing tenants to remain in the repossessed property pending resale.
"I am constantly hearing from tenants who have found out that they have just a few days to get out of their home and have to deal with the stress and expense of finding a new place to live in double-quick time, through no fault of their own," said Shapps.
"Many of the lenders are now largely owned by the government and it is clearly in everyone's interest to try to find better solutions to a fast-growing problem.
"With experts predicting that 75,000 houses will be repossessed this year, it's easy to see how any of the more than three million families who currently rent could get a nasty surprise at any moment.
"Today we're calling for action to help protect hard-working families from suddenly discovering that the roof is about to be taken away from above their heads."
Action urged to protect tenants
Friday, March 13 12:05 am
The Conservatives have urged action to protect tenants when their landlord's property is repossessed.
Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps warned that thousands of people could be affected.
And he added that the tenants could be evicted from their homes with little or no warning.
Authorised tenants are given just 14 days to vacate a repossessed property after a possession order is granted by the courts.
And if the landlord did not have permission to let his property then the tenant could have just days to leave.
With the recession set to prompt a significant rise in repossessions, Shapps called on ministers to take a series of steps to tackle the problem.
These include an increased notice period for any court repossession hearing and encouraging courts and lenders to allow tenants to be heard at repossession hearings.
Lenders could also consider allowing tenants to remain in the repossessed property pending resale.
"I am constantly hearing from tenants who have found out that they have just a few days to get out of their home and have to deal with the stress and expense of finding a new place to live in double-quick time, through no fault of their own," said Shapps.
"Many of the lenders are now largely owned by the government and it is clearly in everyone's interest to try to find better solutions to a fast-growing problem.
"With experts predicting that 75,000 houses will be repossessed this year, it's easy to see how any of the more than three million families who currently rent could get a nasty surprise at any moment.
"Today we're calling for action to help protect hard-working families from suddenly discovering that the roof is about to be taken away from above their heads."
