Dozens of Hastings homes repossessed last year

Dozens of homes in Hastings were repossessed by landlords and mortgage lenders last year, figures show.

Debt charity StepChange said more people across England and Wales have lost their homes since emergency Covid-19 financial measures ended, and said further government support may be needed.

Ministry of Justice figures show 52 homes in Hastings were repossessed in 2021 – 50 evictions of renters, and two by mortgage lenders.

This was up from 45 in 2020, but fewer than the 114 in 2019.

Across England and Wales, there were 10,195 repossessions in 2021 – up from 8,608 the year before.

Bailiff-enforced evictions were banned for a large part of 2020-21 – a measure introduced by the Government to prevent renters from becoming homeless during the pandemic – though the ban was lifted in England on May 31 last year.

Sue Anderson, head of media at StepChange, said emergency measures to suppress landlord evictions and mortgage repossessions were "instrumental".

But she added: "With many people yet to recover from the financial effects of the pandemic – and now having to cope with a cost of living crisis – it’s no surprise that we are seeing a rise in the number of people losing their homes.

"While the £65 million support fund created to help deal with Covid rent arrears will help, more support may still be needed for the hardest hit households.”

The MoJ figures show the number of claims lodged to repossess homes in Hastings also rose last year.