The Government is offering some hope for victims of ’sale and rent back’ scheme.
We revealed how tenants who sold their homes to a string of companies, includingHome Assured, North East Property Buyers and Freedom Property, have ended up forced out of their homes when their landlord is repossessed for not keeping up mortgage payments.
Margaret Beckett has announced plans to give tenants at least two months’ notice in such situations. Currently they could be forced to move within two weeks or less of a repossesssion order going through. Mrs Beckett said:
“It is not right that tenants through no fault of their own can be forced to leave their home at a moment’s notice if their landlord is repossessed, which is why we are intending to change the law. In the meantime, I hope that lenders will move as quickly as possible to safeguard tenants in their homes.”
It might not seem like much of a life-raft but it’s been broadly welcomed.
Leslie Morphy, chief exec of Crisis, said:
“Private tenants risk becoming the hidden victims of this recession and at Crisis we have been highlighting their plight for months. We are delighted that the Government has listened. We now need this legislation to come in urgently. With the recession biting and repossessions soaring, this protection can’t come soon enough.”
David Harker, chief exec of Citizens Advice, said:
“We are delighted that the Government has responded to the concerns we have raised. In the last year Citizens Advice Bureaux have seen around 1,000 cases where private tenants were facing sudden homelessness because their landlord was being repossessed. It is clearly unfair that private tenants lose their right to two months notice to quit simply because their landlord has failed to pay the mortgage. The challenge now is to ensure that the new protection is put in place without further delay to stop any more people being fast tracked to homelessness.”
By Nick Sommerland, Daily Mirror 20/05/09
