Dozens more property repossession claims in Ashfield during the summer

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 56 claims to repossess properties in Ashfield were lodged by mortgage lenders and landlords between July and September.

Of those, 10 were for homes owned by mortgage-holders, while the rest were to evict tenants.

It means there were 24 more claims in the latest quarter than over the same period in 2021, when 32 were submitted.

Despite this rise, there were still fewer bids to remove people from their homes than in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic – 61 claims were lodged between July and September that year.

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

Polly Neate, Shelter chief executive, warned more renters could fall behind on payments and lose their homes without better support.

Reacting to Mr Hunt's autumn statement, 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. The boost to benefits will be built on quicksand."

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 unfolding, and means homelessness will continue to rise this winter.”

Matt Downe, chief executive of homelessness charity Crisis, said: “Abandoning renters during a recession and cost-of-living crisis is unforgiveable."

Mr Hunt said he would “monitor carefully” the situation around mortgage repossessions.