CAB sees sharp rise in tenants who need help after getting into debt with landlords
Added 02.03.10
The number of enquiries from tenants seeking advice on what to do after getting into rent arrears with private landlords went up by 25 percent in the last quarter of 2009 says the Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB).
The charity organisation is now seeing record numbers of people who need help with debt and benefit problems due to the continuing impact of the recession.
Since the start of the recession CAB advisers have helped at least 3.25 million people with 11 million problems.
New figures show Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales currently dealing with 9,500 new debt problems and 8,200 new benefit problems every working day.
Debt and benefit issues combined now account for over 60 percent of the CAB workload.
Recently published quarterly figures show that the total problem count for the three months October – December 2009 reached 1.7 million, up 20 percent on the same period the previous year.
Debt problems shot up 24 percent and enquiries about welfare benefits leapt by 22 percent compared with the same quarter the year before.
The latest figures suggest that many people are still struggling to keep their heads above water and pay essential household bills, relying on overdrafts to meet day-to-day living costs.
Citizens Advice Chief Executive David Harker said: “These figures give a stark insight into the human cost of the recession, coming as they do on top of what were already record-breaking enquiry figures for the previous three months.
“We may officially be in recovery, but for many people the damage done by the economic downturn is long-lasting and far from over. Even more people are now worried about the further pressures on their household budgets from rising prices and exceptionally high winter fuel bills.
“The demand for CAB services is at an all time high and our advisers have never been so busy. Our frontline advice services will continue to play a vital role in helping millions of people weather the worst effects of the recession for as long as it takes.”
News feed courtesy of Residential Landlord