“It was humiliating actually. I wouldn't go again”: Rent arrears and prossession proceedings in the county court

Abstract

The process of marginalisation within the British housing system has contributed to the rising incidence of housing debt amongst both owner-occupiers and tenants. There are currently over two million households in arrears of payments of rents or mortgages. Increasingly, lenders and landlords are using the judicial system as a central part of arrears management strategies. The paper reports some of the findings from a major study, funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, looking at housing debt, legal proceedings and the threat of eviction. The paper outlines what happens to tenants who are taken to court as a result of rent arrears. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative survey data, it examine:

• . the rising incidence and the main reported causes of rent arrears;

• . the use of the judicial system to recover arrears and/or repossess dwellings;

• . the outcome of hearings, tenants' participation in the court process; and

• . tenants' experience of the court process.

The study shows that while the causes of debt are similar for owner-occupiers and tenants, the way in which cases are dealt with varies, depending on the tenure of the household. In the vast majority of arrears cases, action to resolve the debt is taken without reference to the judicial system. Informal agreements may be made to repay the arrears or, in the worst-case scenario, properties are voluntarily abandoned. The cases referred to the courts represent only the tip of the iceberg. Yet how the courts deal with such cases is of interest both directly, in terms of the effectiveness of legal action in recovering arrears, and more widely, in terms of the influence judicial decisions have on landlords' and tenants' rent arrears management practices. The picture that emerges from interviews with tenants threatened with eviction is of people, initially fearful, who often end up feeling humiliated, confused and in some cases very unhappy with the experience.