Tenants at risk as landlords lose homes

Tenants at risk as landlords lose homes

Hundreds of tenants are at risk of being forcefully evicted without notice as growing numbers of landlords hit by the credit crisis are having their properties repossessed.

The number of people threatened with repossession because they can't keep up with mortgage payments has shot up by 16 per cent in the last year, according to official figures released last week. But now housing charities are warning that it is not just the owners who at risk of losing their homes - many tenants will also face eviction, often because their landlord has the wrong type of mortgage.

'We have already started seeing inquiries from tenants who are being forced out of their homes,' said Adam Sampson, chief executive of Shelter, the housing charity. 'If the credit crunch continues we are going to see many more repossessions and many more tenants being evicted. They are the unheard victims of this crisis.'

When a buy-to-let mortgage - necessary to rent out a property - is granted, lenders require landlords to have a six-month tenancy agreement in place and will, in theory, recognise the needs of the tenants if the property is repossessed. However many landlords have avoided these loans, either deliberately or because they didn't switch mortgages when they moved out to let the property.

'Unfortunately the tenant might not know anything is wrong until a bailiff is knocking at their door,' said Sue Anderson of the Council of Mortgage Lenders. 'There is a real risk.....continued below

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of more of these cases as repossessions becomes more common.'

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