Industry responds to charities' tenants campaign

30/03/2009

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has offered support for charities' calls last week for the government to better protect tenants.
Groups including Citizens Advice launched the campaign, which is aimed at making the government change the law to better protect tenants, last week.

The charities pointed out that renters evicted from their homes without notice for reasons other than their landlords having their homes repossessed had far more help from current laws.

However, the CML argued that it was "important" to distinguish between different groups of landlords - pointing out that many tenants of landlords who have buy-to-let mortgages would not be evicted if they failed to pay their loans.

This is because the lender would put a "rent receiver" in the landlords' place.

On the other hand, those with landlords who illegally take out owner-occupier mortgages, despite having tenants living in the property, have no legal protection and face eviction.

CML director general Michael Coogan added: "Everyone sympathises with those tenants who are paying their rent, and fulfilling their obligations, but who find that their landlord has not been paying their mortgage and not told their lender that they are renting out the property.

"Good tenants should not be disadvantaged, and nor should lenders, by the irresponsible behaviour of a small minority of landlords."

Repossessions numbers grew by over 50 per cent to hit 40,000 last year in the UK, as economic conditions worsened.

With the recession dragging on, this total is predicted to increase by as much as 100 per cent of last year's figure in 2009.

Tags; Housing Debt and Bills, Credit Card Lifestyle, Recent Graduate Debt,

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