Shelter highlights rent crisis
More people struggling to pay their monthly rent or mortgage
The number of people struggling to pay their monthly rent or mortgage has risen by forty-four per cent in only a year, according to new research by the charity Shelter. The rise means that 7.8 million people are now in this position. Shelter warn that the number is likely to increase further during 2013 as a result of further government austerity measures.
The survey revealed that 2.8 million people used an unauthorised overdraft to help them to cover their rent or mortgage at some point in the last year. Around 280,000 did so every month. In addition, nearly a million people resorted to a ‘payday loan’.
‘It’s shocking to think that so many families will be starting the new year with a huge weight hanging over them, trapped in a daily struggle to keep their home,’ said Campbell Robb of Shelter.
He urged people facing rent or mortgage problems to make use of Shelter’s free online advice.
