28 North East Households A Day At Risk Of Eviction

14 August 2014, 05:29

28 households are at risk of losing their home every day in the North East - with people in South Tyneside and Newcastle most at risk.

New research by the housing charity Shelter, based on data recorded by the Ministry of Justice, has found that in the last year more than 10,300 homes in the North East were at risk of eviction or repossession.

It also identified the latest hotspots across the region where people are most likely to face losing their home, with South Tyneside and Newcastle upon Tyne topping the list.

Other hotspots in the region's top ten included Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Darlington.

The housing and homelessness charity is warning that sky high housing costs are pushing more and more families in the North East to the brink.

With finances stretched to bursting point, just one thing, such as an illness or job loss, can be all it takes to leave a family facing losing their home.

Shelter is currently struggling to meet demand for its services and is calling for support so that it can help more people stay in their homes.

Since 2011, across the country the charity has seen the number of callers struggling with rent arrears more than double, while those calling about mortgage arrears rose by nearly a fifth.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said:
"28 households at risk of losing their home every day is 28 too many. Each one of these will have had their lives turned upside down by this experience, as they faced seeing their home, the foundation of their life, ripped away from underneath them.

Tragically we are seeing more and more people coming to us for help, people who have been struggling to make ends meet and then just one change of circumstances has pushed them spiralling towards homelessness. We urgently need people's support so we can help more people in the North East avoid the nightmare of losing their home."