Action against repossessions
Posted: June 5, 2009
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, an estimated 75,000 homes will be repossessed this year, three tim
es more than 2007, and nearly twice as many as last year.The current financial crisis has led to people being laid off work, making them vulnerable to repossession orders due to them struggling to keep up with mortgage repayments.
The financial institutions that have caused these problems get bail-outs from public money when they fall into difficulty. The public on the other hand gets little in the way of assistance when their homes are under threat.
For this reason and as a way to come up with a local, concrete response to the crisis, HSG has set up an anti-repossession group to help and encourage people to fight back.
The group intends to do a combination of awareness-raising activities and taking on cases where people are having problems with their mortgage lender. There are plans to leaflet outside Citizens Advice Bureaux, and to organise protests outside recession-profiteering mortgage lenders or banks that are pushing through repossessions.
While the idea is also to try and help someone along the process, the group is not aiming at offering legal advice but will rather be working along alternative lines. It may not always be possible to stop a repossession happening, but by applying pressure upon the lenders, using direct action, and gaining media attention where it can, the group hopes for positive results.
HSG’s Repossessions Action group meets regularly to discuss these and other related housing issues. If you would like to be involved, if you need support or for more information, email: repossession@nullharingey.org.uk
Links: Report of HSG Natwest Bank Protest
Category: Uncategorised
Tags: housing