In the 12 months to September 2012, 198,470 households were threatened with losing their home – equal to cities the size of Liverpool or Bristol being evicted or repossessed.
The figures also show:
the top 15 hotspots are all London boroughs, where the risk of repossession or eviction is double the national average, with 1 in every 62 homes at risk
the nation’s top hotspot, Barking and Dagenham, has more than three times as many possession claims as the rest of the country, 1 in every 37 homes
outside London, the regions with the highest eviction risk are the north west with 1 in 112 homes at risk, and the west Midlands with 1 in 114 homes at risk
there is a correlation between unemployment and eviction risk, with the local authorities with the most possession claims also having the highest rates of unemployment.
The top eviction risk hotspots are:
Local authority (Possession rate per number of homes)
Barking & Dagenham (1 in 37)
Newham (1 in 39)
Haringey (1 in 45)
Hackney (1 in 46)
Southwark (1 in 46)
The top eviction hotspots outside of London are:
Wolverhampton (1 in 65)
Slough (1 in 66)
Manchester (1 in 66)
Peterborough (1 in 68)
Nottingham (1 in 69)
Campbell Robb, Chief Executive of Shelter said:
‘It’s truly shocking how many people in this country are living with the threat of becoming homeless. In some areas, the risk of being evicted or repossessed is so high that one home in every street could be affected.
This report is a stark reminder that homelessness can happen to anyone – all it takes is one event such as a redundancy or relationship break up, and whole families are at risk of losing their home.’
Response to Shelter research on homelessness
Responding to new research by Shelter that rising numbers of families are at risk of becoming homeless, National Housing Federation Director of Neighbourhoods Gill Payne says:
"There are millions of families really struggling to keep on top of their rising rents, yet their future is looking bleak. High housing costs are a huge financial pressure on families, and at a time when the cost of living is rising rapidly, many families are in real fear of losing their home.
Our own report on homelessness recently showed that the numbers of people living in B&Bs and rough sleeping have already risen dramatically in the past year, so these alarming figures of thousands more families at risk of being made homeless cannot be ignored. We need to address the causes of rising housing costs urgently. Only by addressing the chronic undersupply of new homes can we stem the huge financial pressure on families."
