Claims by landlords and mortgage lenders to evict people from their homes rise in Lancaster

Almost two dozen more applications to evict people in the Lancaster district were made this summer than in 2021.

Housing charity Shelter has accused the Government of ignoring an unfolding "crisis" in the rental market, where prices are rising rapidly, after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's autumn statement revealed little help for private tenants.

Ministry of Justice data shows 44 claims to repossess properties in Lancaster were lodged by mortgage lenders and landlords between July and September.

Of those, eight were for homes owned by mortgage-holders, while the rest were to evict tenants.

It means there were 23 more claims in the latest quarter than over the same period in 2021, when 21 were submitted.

The figures also show that in the latest period, tenants were evicted from their homes in Lancaster on 17 occasions – putting them among the 5,400 tenant evictions across England and Wales – while there were two bailiff-enforced home repossessions.

Polly Neate, Shelter chief executive, warned more renters could fall behind on payments and lose their homes.

She said: “There is a housing hole in this budget – housing benefit remains frozen at 2020 levels when private rents have been rising at record rates.

“Increasing Universal Credit will really help people struggling to pay their food and fuel bills, but crucially it doesn’t cover rents which are most people’s biggest outgoing.

"Unless housing benefit is increased, the shortfall with real rents will only grow – swallowing up other benefit increases."

Ms Neate said a planned increase to the benefit cap is a "glimmer of hope" for vulnerable families, but added: "The Government’s refusal to unfreeze housing benefit ignores the rental crisis that is unfolding, and means that homelessness will continue to rise this winter.”

Homelessness charity Crisis chief executive Matt Downie added: "Abandoning renters during a recession and cost of living crisis is unforgiveable."

Meanwhile, Mr Hunt said he would "monitor carefully" the situation around mortgage repossessions, after Labour former shadow chancellor John McDonnell urged the Chancellor to come back with a "package of measures" to get people through the housing crisis.

"I’ve already had a number of discussions internally in the Treasury and as necessary, I’ll come back to this House with further measures." Mr Hunt said.