Repossession crisis hits UK
04/06/2009
Big Issue launches campaign to get government to prevent disaster
As many as 75,000 homes face repossession this year – destroying lives, families and communities. From today, The Big Issue is calling upon the government to freeze the process during the current economic climate, to prevent the onset of a social disaster.Along with new campaigning group 38 Degrees, we are urging Big Issue readers to sign our petition, which we will present to Gordon Brown. We want the government to explore the alternatives to repossession and act to make the lives of thousands of people secure for the future.
“The government are busy bailing out the banks, but offering little to ordinary people,” said Big Issue founder and editor-in-chief John Bird.
“They have a moral responsibility to keep people in their homes.
“We cannot see people dragged into homelessness to then wait decades for them to get out.”
New figures show the number of people whose homes have been repossessed has rocketed by 50 per cent in a year. In the UK, 220,000 homeowners are now more than three months in arrears on their mortgage. With our nationwide campaign, The Big Issue will call for the government to put a stop to the disaster blighting thousands of lives.
“There has to be investment in the lives of individuals and families otherwise they will be the ones filling our streets and our hostels: the places where people don’t keep their families or their sanity,” said Bird.
Working alongside The Big Issue is 38 Degrees, a people-powered campaign group launched last month in response to growing numbers of people who feel unheard in the decision-making process.
Executive Director of 38 Degrees David Babbs said: “Campaigning together is vital if we are to prevent the gulf between rich and poor deepening even further in the UK.
“Repossessions are a disaster, whether we’re directly affected or not, and together we can put pressure on the government to do much more to stop them.”
Since the 1970s successive governments have pushed home ownership, while deregulation in the banking sector has led to reckless mortgage lending.
Now, rising unemployment and fluctuating interest rates have fuelled predictions there may be as many as 75,000 repossessions in 2009 – 200 homes lost every day.
In the midst of financial collapse in September 2008, the government responded to the problem, launching its £285m Mortgage Rescue Package, which was promised to help 6,000 individuals.
However, last month it was revealed it has such narrow restrictions that only one family in England had benefited from it since its introduction in January, with 36 beneficiaries in Wales. Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has trumpeted its equivalent £35m Home Owners’ Support Fund, which includes a Mortgage to Rent and Mortgage to Shared Equity rescue package.
But despite this move, shockingly there is no national breakdown of repossession statistics available for Scotland – despite national figures for England and Wales being extracted from the UK-wide numbers.
Homeless action group Crisis said such a breakdown is “vital” if governments want to seriously tackle the problem. Duncan Shrubsole, director of policy and external affairs at Crisis, told The Big Issue: “It is vital we know and understand the causes, consequences and contributory factors behind this.
“As part of this it would seem obvious that we need a detailed breakdown for each of the nations of the UK, and ideally at regional and local authority level too.”
A recent study by Glasgow University looked at the impact on communities and found clusters of repossessions can depress house prices in a local area. As properties lie vacant, crime begins to thrive.
The study also concluded that higher rates of repossession could further destabilise the banking sector, resulting in a longer lasting and deeper recession.
The Big Issue will examine repossession in its entirety and map out the ways in which a moratorium could work. As well as examining the issues we will also be calling on expert opinion.
David Babbs added: “Together we can bring the issues to life with coverage that reflects the reality of repossession for the people directly affected by it.
“If enough readers join us in this campaign we can make repossessions an issue politicians can’t ignore.
“Bankers’ mismanagement shouldn’t mean we suddenly lose ground on things we’ve all spent years fighting for, like reductions in child poverty and rough sleeping, which rising repossessions could now threaten.”
To add your name to the Stop Repossession petition click here
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