Evictions are at a record level

Evictions in 2014 increased by over 10 per cent from the previous year. When looking at data for just Wales and England, about 42,000 tenants lost their home according to the Ministry of Justice. But this may also understate the true number, as there are an estimated tens of thousands of other families that are too ashamed to report that they have lost their home or that do not go through the court system. So many people that fall into rent arrears leave their flat before they are evicted.

This is a new record for the UK. The experts think the reason for this increase in evictions are due to both benefit cuts as well as the increasing cost of rent. Another cause may also be the still challenging job market in the UK, with many families not have any increase in their wages for an extended period of time.

Landlords are evicting tenants at the highest rate since 2000, when the Ministry of Justice started to report on this. There are both owners of social housing as well as private sector accommodations driving this increase, however social landlords may be causing a bigger increase. They are taking back the homes they have rented out in the past at a lower market rates, and now with the cost of housing increasing, they are kicking out the families who were benefiting from the lower rates.

From October 2014 to December 2014, Ministry of Justice shows that 62 per cent of the possession claims, which may lead to evictions, were from social housing flats. So not only are families being faced with a reduction in benefits, but now they are being forced to deal with landlords who are not offering them any options if they fall into rent arrears. Instead the social housing landlords are more likely to repossess the home and then let it out at the higher market rates.

The National Housing Federation is claiming the increase on social housing evictions on changes to benefit as well as the bedroom tax. But this in itself may not be enough to explain the increase or why so many more evictions are occurring in the social sector.

In contrast to that data, many experts are claiming that landlords are being more forceful into evicting any tenant that misses their payments. They would rather let out at a higher rare. So they are stating that the number of payment plans being offered is being reduced. If you have received a notice from your landlord, there are steps tenants can take to stop an eviction or find other accommodations.

When a family is homeless, they are also struggling to move into a new residence. There is just a shortage of affordable homes across the entire UK. The cost of rent increased about 3% in 2014, which is higher than the increase in income. Also, London had an increase of about 4.5%, which is making the city unaffordable for almost all families. Those figures are for one-bedroom homes only, which will not meet the needs of a family with children.

The government cutting back on safety net programmes such as housing benefits as well as the failure to build more affordable homes is causing a major crisis across the UK. While 2015 data will take many months to report on, the ministry does not expect much of an improvement.