New figures from housing and homeless charity Shelter have revealed that one in ten people fear they will be unable to meet their housing payments in January.
Shelter warned that 2.7 million people in England are being forced to cut back on winter essentials such as heating and clothing to pay their rent or mortgage.
The study carried out by YouGov questioned more than 4,000 people and found that 10% of parents fear they will be unable to pay their rent or mortgage this month.
The research also showed that over one in four parents in England have cut back on winter heating and clothing, while 15% said they had bought less food for Christmas or used savings meant to be for presents to help meet their rent or mortgage payments.
Shelter said the shortage of affordable homes has left many families struggling with “sky-high housing costs”, and that over 100,000 people had sought advice from it on housing debt.
The charity highlighted the case of Michelle and her family from Cambridge, who have had the threat of eviction hanging over them since her husband Kevin became a self-employed builder.
“Even though my husband works as many hours as he can, it’s constantly hand to mouth. We cut back on everything to pay the rent – including food. When the children are at school the heating isn’t on at all, and over Christmas we had to cut back on presents and clothing,” Michelle said.
“I try to hide it as much as I can from my youngest children but they know they can’t ask for treats, and not to let anyone they don’t know into the house in case the bailiffs come round. I hate living like that. I recently went to the doctor because the stress of it all has made my asthma worse,” she added.
Last year, the government announced a number of curbs on buy-to-let properties to make sure the market did not overheat.
Chancellor George Osborne revealed there would be a new 3% stamp duty rate on second homes in the Autumn Statement, while the amount of tax relief landlords can claim on properties will also fall from April 2017. However, critics argue that these measures could potentially lead to an increase in rents as landlords look to claw back lost money.
The charity is urging anyone who is experiencing difficulties paying their rent or mortgage to get help as early as possible to avoid losing their home.
Shelter’s top 5 tips on dealing with rent and mortgage debt:
1. Ask for help early from an expert adviser who can take you through your options and advise on your next steps.
2. Focus on housing costs first, even if you are getting demands from credit card and payday loan companies.
3. Act now on mortgage arrears and contact your lender as soon as possible if you are behind on the mortgage.
4. Get help with rent arrears and see if you can claim housing benefit to help pay the rent.
5. Respond to letters and phone calls and keep records of every letter and phone call.
