Upholding rights
Legal rights are only valuable if people can enforce them.
One of our main roles is to help people enforce their legal rights to protect their home.
Saving Homes, Preventing Homelessness
Our specialist housing advice team provide expert casework support to people at risk of losing their home.
208 families were prevented from becoming homeless, 55 more than in the previous year. As Stoke-on-Trent continues to feel the effects of the recession more and more people find themselves behind with their rent or mortgage and at risk of losing their home.
Fortunately, the number of people being evicted due rent or mortgage arrears has not grown as much as was feared, as many first lenders have held off possession action and many families in Stoke have benefited from the measures introduced by the government to prevent a repossession crisis.
Stoke CAB case workers have worked closely with staff at the City Council Housing Solutions team to make sure that as many people as possible can benefit from the mortgage rescue schemes available.
Many local people have been able to keep the homes they have struggled to buy because the time they have to wait before they can receive help with their mortgage interest from Income Support has been significantly reduced and the rate it is paid at has been set above many lenders' base rates.
"There is at least one national lender who will only accept contractual payments plus an amount towards the arrears. Up to now many people have used their income support payments to meet these stringent requirements. In the future, however, they will be unable to so and will then face inevitable repossession," said Steve.
Campaigning for Private Tenants
Evidence from Stoke CAB and many other CABs from across the country was used by our national body Citizens Advice to lobby the government to increase the protection offer to private tenants whose landlord defaults on their mortgage.
Working with Shelter, Crisis and the Chartered Institute of Housing Citizens Advice argued that the law should be changed and in April 2010 the Mortgage Repossession (Protection of Tenants) Act was passed and is expected to come to force in the autumn.
This will allow tenants to be given some notice of the imminent repossession of their property whereas previously often the first they would know would be when they received an eviction notice from the court.
"So far the level of repossessions experienced during this recession has not reached the levels of previous years," said CAB Chief Executive Simon Harris. "However, there are literally thousands of people who are in arrears with their mortgage and who are at risk of repossession if the levels of support given to home owners are reduced as part of the public expenditure cuts and if they are unable to access expert advice to help them enforce their legal rights.
"If this time bomb is allowed to explode then the results could be catastrophic not only for the individuals concerned but also for local communities and the country as a whole."
Pictured: Stoke CAB Housing Team