Policy Hub
On 25 November 2008, the New Local Government Network (NLGN) published a paper (Forestalling foreclosure: a new role for local authorities) which argues that in the current economic climate, and with repossessions on the rise, local councils should be facilitated to step in and help homeowners at threat.
The paper outlines the immense stress repossessions can cause to family members and emphasises that they can engender long-term poverty and poor health and well-being as well as impacting on the emotional state of children and their schooling. Although difficult to quantify, the paper quotes estimates revealing that the financial and social costs of homelessness can approach £6,000 per household, much of which falls directly or indirectly on local authorities.
NLGN insist that on many occasions it would be in the financial interests of the council to step in, averting potential expenditure on alternative housing provision plus other social and economic costs. This could be done through loans, or ‘shared ownership’, ‘shared equity’ or ‘sale and rent back’.