Dozens more property repossession claims in Bedford during the summer

Dozens more claims to evict people from their homes in Bedford were made this summer than in 2021, figures show, amid a huge increase in repossession activity across England and Wales.

Housing charity Shelter has accused the Government of ignoring an unfolding "crisis" in the rental market, where prices are rising rapidly, after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's autumn statement revealed little help for private tenants.

Ministry of Justice data shows 76 claims to repossess properties in Bedford were lodged by mortgage lenders and landlords between July and September.

Of those, six were for homes owned by mortgage-holders, while the rest were to evict tenants.

It means there were 32 more claims in the latest quarter than over the same period in 2021, when 44 were submitted.

The figures also show that in the latest period, tenants were evicted from their homes in Bedford on 30 occasions – putting them among the 5,400 tenant evictions across England and Wales – while there were two bailiff-enforced home repossessions.

Polly Neate, Shelter chief executive, warned more renters could fall behind on payments and lose their homes without better support.

Reacting to Mr Hunt's autumn statement, she said: “There is a housing hole in this budget – housing benefit remains frozen at 2020 levels when private rents have been rising at record rates.

“Increasing Universal Credit will really help people struggling to pay their food and fuel bills, but crucially it doesn’t cover rents which are most people’s biggest outgoing.

"Unless housing benefit is increased, the shortfall with real rents will only grow – swallowing up other benefit increases. The boost to benefits will be built on quicksand."

Ms Neate said a planned increase to the benefit cap is a "glimmer of hope" for vulnerable families, but added: "The Government’s refusal to unfreeze housing benefit ignores the rental crisis that is unfolding, and means that homelessness will continue to rise this winter.”

Meanwhile, Mr Hunt said he would "monitor carefully" the situation around mortgage repossessions, after Labour former shadow chancellor John McDonnell urged the Chancellor to come back with a "package of measures" to get people through the housing crisis.