Wrexham Possession Order Figures Revealed

Picture: Brian Turner

The housing charity analysed Ministry of Justice statistics and Welsh Government data for 2010/11 to calculate the rate of claims leading to possession orders per 1000 private households for the 22 Welsh local authorities.

In Wrexham 165 possession orders were issued last year giving the town a rate of 3.63 possession orders per 1,000 private households.

A possession order is issued at an advanced stage of the repossession process and while these homes are not all certain to be repossessed, there is a serious risk that they will be.

At the top of the list Blaenau Gwent is Wales’s top hotspot, having the highest rate of homeowners at risk, followed closely by Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Caerphilly and Neath Port Talbot.

Shelter said that the statistics confirmed a strong link between unemployment and possession orders, with the top five hotspots also having the highest rates of economic inactivity.

Director of Shelter Cymru John Puzey said: “Many thousands of people in Wales are struggling with a toxic combination of rising living costs, high inflation and stagnant wages. All it takes is one misfortune such as illness or redundancy for people to find themselves in serious financial difficulties and at risk of losing their home.

“The Welsh Government’s Mortgage Rescue Scheme was extremely effective and helped many hundreds of families to stay in their homes, but it was always known that funding was time limited. When it ended in April this year, it was made clear that local authorities had the discretion to use their Social Housing Grant to run their own schemes according to local need.

“At this especially challenging time, every local authority and housing association should be placing a high priority on all forms of homelessness prevention, especially early advice and support to people in financial difficulties.

Shelter Cymru in Wrexham was recently awarded £250,000 over the next three years by the Big Lottery Fund to provide free specialist money advice for people living in the area

Wrexham MP Ian Lucas welcomed the funding, however described it as “sad” that the charity needed lottery funding for such a service.

He said: “I am glad that this money has been secured and it is another good cause being funded by the Big Lottery Fund.

“However, it is sad that the organisation needs such money, Wrexham Council recently withdrew a grant from Shelter, and the charity is doing work which helps ease the burden on government services both nationally and locally.”