FIGURES REVEAL REPOSSESSION FEARS

ONE in every 95 households in Derby is at risk of eviction or repossession as rising housing costs push more families to the brink of financial ruin.

The alarming figure has been released by the homeless charity Shelter, and reveals that Derby households are at far greater risk than those across the East Midlands as a whole.

Throughout the region, around one in every 122 households is at the same risk.

Shelter also stated that in the last six months of 2013, it recorded 171 calls to its helpline from worried Derby residents – although the charity warned that figure won’t include the great many people who call anonymously.

Unforunately, the figures are reflected in the casework I deal with supporting city residents.

We are in the midst of a cost of living crisis. It is something which has become increasingly obvious to me as I help residents in my regular surgeries, and it is something which this Government is failing to address.

People are in poverty and there is an impact of that. In this case it is that families and individuals are at real risk of losing their homes because they simply cannot afford them.