St Helens has one of the highest repossession claims in social housing

To prevent people from going homeless during the pandemic, the government introduced temporary laws that banned the repossession of properties and extended the notice period for evictions.

Inevitably, as we have made our way out of the pandemic and these restrictions have been lifted, the number of repossession claims has been rising in all areas of the country.

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St Helens one of the highest rates of repossession claims

Government data shows that St Helens had one of the highest social landlord repossession claims (Image: Ministry of Justice)

This is true in St Helens, and data from the Ministry of Justice shows that the town has one of the highest rates of repossession claims in social housing from October to December 2022.

With social housing in St Helens mainly operated by Torus and Riverside, the figures show that 75 claims were made to evict tenants in the three-month period, which would be the equivalent of a rate of 469 per 100,000 households.

Throughout the entire year, figures show that 164 repossession claims were made against social housing tenants in St Helens, although not all of these were shown to have been evicted.

The data shows that 57 of these had their property repossessed, or given a warrant or outright court order to leave the property within a certain date, which the tenant can contest.

Others have been given suspended orders which means that tenants will have to vacate the property if they do not comply with certain conditions.

Repossessions 'always a last resort'

Torus state that repossessions are always a last resort (Image: St Helens Star)

While there has been an increase in social housing repossessions in St Helens, both Torus and Riverside stated that the rate is significantly lower than before the pandemic began.

The housing associations also emphasise that repossessions are "always a last resort" that is only carried out once every other avenue has been explored.

Torus Regional Housing Director, Riza Yassin, said: “While there has naturally been an increase in possession cases and evictions since the Court restrictions were lifted, we have completed 19 evictions in St Helens in 2022 (to end March 23) compared with 92 in 2019.

“Repossessions are only sought when every other avenue has been explored to help support the customer to remain in their home.

“It is only after all efforts have failed, the customer fails to keep to their repayment plan or stops engaging with us that possession proceedings will be taken."

Focus to prevent homelessness

Like Torus, the Riverside housing group also stressed that evictions and repossessions are a last resort, where customers have consistently failed to engage or pay rent on time.

While evictions have increased after the pandemic, Riverside state that they have not seen a significant increase from pre-pandemic levels.

A spokesperson said: "At Riverside, we are focused on playing our part to tackle and prevent homelessness, and to help those who need us most. We are therefore committed to supporting our customers to maintain their tenancies and remain in their homes.

"In the last year we have helped over 2,000 customers in serious financial crises to sustain their tenancies by providing assistance with food, goods and access to our support or agency services."

"Possession actions are taken as a last resort where customers have significantly failed to engage or pay rent to prevent this serious action or have been evicted due to anti-social behaviour."

Both Riverside and Torus state that they offer services where tenants can access financial assistance, as well as directing them to further services that can help with welfare, benefits, mental health, and employment advice.