Evictions

The BBC reports that an average of over 100 households were evicted from rented homes every day in England in 2015.

Some 39,723 homes were repossessed by bailiffs in the 12 months to September 2016 - equivalent to 108 per day, Ministry of Justice data says. It adds that 137,773 renting households are at risk of losing their homes.

The charity Shelter blamed this on ‘the impact of welfare cuts and the severe lack of affordable homes’, but a government official responded that ‘The reasons for repossessions can be complex, so to link it to welfare reform is misleading.’

No doubt each eviction differs in its details, with factors ranging from illness, redundancy, family break-up, a rapacious landlord and so on, but it is a bit much just to dismiss the reasons as ‘complex’.

The underlying reasons are really pretty simple: poverty and a housing market that exists to make a profit rather than to meet people’s needs for somewhere decent to live.

PB