Blameless victim

In recent months the recession has highlighted a new victim - tenants of landlords who are repossessed. Some tenants have returned home to find the locks changed and unable to access their belongings. Tenants facing this situation currently have little or no protection, not even the right to a standard notice period to find alternative accommodation.

To tackle this problem the Government has introduced changes to the law requiring the landlord’s lender to inform the occupier at a much earlier time of a court hearing. This is likely to give you between five to seven weeks to avoid homelessness. There are steps you can take to help reduce the risk of this happening to you.

• ALWAYS OPEN ALL MAIL ADDRESS ‘TO THE OCCUPIER’. This may include notice of any possession hearings. Mail addressed to the occupier is not always junk mail.

• If you're thinking of moving into a new property, make sure the landlord has permission from the lender to rent it out. Otherwise, the lender does not have to recognise the tenancy at all.

We will keep you up to date on any further changes but for government advice please visit The Citizens Advice Bureau.

• If you were already living in the premises at the time when the mortgage was taken out, the lender may take you on as a tenant and allow you to pay rent to them directly. If you think you may be in this position, contact your local authority’s housing department, Citizens Advice Bureau or Shelter.

• Try to find out as much you can about your prospective landlord and his/her mortgage status before taking up a tenancy. If you give your landlord a deposit it should be protected under the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme and you should be able to retrieve it even if your landlord has been repossessed.