More than 1,100 Northamptonshire households in danger of repossession and eviction have been supported in court by Community Law Service in the last 12 months.
As reported in our Annual Report 2023-24,we have supported 1,433 people with specialist housing advice and casework.
Community Law Service, which provides specialist housing, benefits, debt, energy and immigration advice, also reported a 26% increase in supporting people with Section 21 Notices. This refers to the legislation which enables private landlords to repossess their properties from shorthold tenants. It is the first step a landlord has to take to make people leave their homes.
Our CEO Sarah Hayle explains: “This rise in Section 21 cases is due to mortgage rates increasing and landlords either wanting to sell up or increase rents to unaffordable amounts. We are focused on working with landlords to either prevent cases getting to court or by getting agreements in place before going to court. Our main objective is to keep clients in their homes.
“This year has also seen a 34% increase in our court duty work. We have dealt with just shy of 890 cases on the day in court producing excellent results for our clients. These are often complex cases and require a lot of negotiation between the defendant and claimant.
“Of concern we are seeing less people qualifying for Legal Help due to the low-income threshold for eligibility which is set by Government and which has not been increased for over a decade. This is a real concern and needs reviewing as it out of synch even with the basic living wage.”
On a positive note we secured a new Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service contract with the Legal Aid Agency last year, enabling the charity to support people who would not previously have been eligible for advice.
Sarah explains: “This new scheme has no means test and allows us to provide housing advice to people who have ongoing possession proceedings and comes with funding to cover the benefit and debt problems that impact on housing – ensuring we can help more people keep their homes.”
Read our Community Law Service Annual Achievements 2023-2024 Report in full HERE. Get in touch by calling 01604 621038 or emailing enquiries@communitylawservice.org.uk