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Homes are on the line as economic crisis hits hard
Unemployment and cases of repossession both on the increase
UNEMPLOYMENT has risen significantly for the first time in 12 years, while the courts are filling with tenants and homeowners facing repossession as the recession begins to bite across the borough.
The number of Camden residents claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) rose in September to 3,956, a three per cent rise since July and the largest jump since the quarterly statistics were first compiled in January 1996.
And at Central London’s County Court in Marylebone, where Camden cases are heard, repossession hearings have sharply increased.
Yesterday (Wednesday), the court lists bulged with 42 cases where landlords – including Camden Council and large housing associations – sought possession of properties where tenants had fallen into rent arrears.
On Tuesday there were 39 – figures described by lawyers defending tenants as “bigger than the biggest rushes of the past”.
In the waiting area for the court, one tenant, facing a repossession order for rent arrears to the council but unwilling to be named, said: “If you can’t pay, you can’t pay. I’ll go through this and the judge will tell me to pay and I’ll have to say ‘I can’t’.
“There are no jobs and if you can’t work and the housing benefit doesn’t come, what are you supposed to do?”
Leaflets offering advice to those both seeking and fighting repossessions had run out and been replaced with a clutch of hasty photocopies by pressurised court staff.
Ministry of Justice figures show that 647 tenants faced repossession actions at the County Court, which also deals with Westminster cases, in the last three months – an increase of 17 per cent on last year.
In a s courtroom, a steady trickle of homeowners unable to make their mortgage payments became part of the stream of 156 who were subjected to legal proceedings in the last three months – an increase of 15 per cent on last year.
Abbey National Plc and NatWest were among the mortgage companies making claims against customers, a phenomenon which housing campaigners claim must be stopped by Government guidelines announced yesterday (Wednesday).
Isabel de la Cour, Regional Campaigns officer for the housing charity Shelter, said: “Our London services have begun to see a marked increase in people contacting them with mortgage arrears and repossessions. Lenders must treat struggling homeowners with fairness and dignity.”
The Town Hall’s housing chief, Councillor Chris Naylor, said on Tuesday that the council was “not seeing anything significant – yet,” in terms of fall-out from the recession.
But, he added: “We’re very alert to the problems that homeowners in Camden might be facing.
“We ought to be ready as one of the ports of call for anybody in trouble with housing in the borough.
“Going to court on arrears is very much a last option.
“Tenants who find themselves in financial difficulties should talk to the housing department about what their options for payment are.” |
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