See the heartbreaking cases held at Teesside's repossession courts recently

I’m at Teesside’s repossession courts and I’m here at a time when evictions are soaring and the country faces an unprecedented cost of living crisis.

Around 22 people a week in the North East had their homes repossessed in the first quarter of this year – and that figure will only increase in the coming months, the court’s duty solicitor warns.

Special Report: Stark rise in landlords applying to turf out tenants during cost of living crisis

She’s here to represent those facing eviction, but they’re rarely in attendance. Just three tenants will appear before District Judge David Robinson, who brings a sympathetic tone to the hearings.

Possession hearings are heard at Teesside Combined Court

Another arrives minutes late, having travelled to the wrong court. He’s too late, it’s over – hearings are 15 minutes long and his case was decided in his absence. He’s officially evicted.

But he travelled miles to tell his side of the story and he’s upset. A kindly court clerk offers us a quiet room and he tells me why he withheld his rent.

Special Report: The Northern Echo's step by step guide to the eviction process

In this case, the arrears came from a desperate attempt to escape a targeted and violent campaign of harassment that left the tenant suicidal. He had to get out and the only way was to save rent until he had enough for a deposit on a property far from his problems.

There’s undoubtedly a story behind every case, but scant details are shared during the short hearings.

Still, we hear from a care leaver whose eviction was blamed on social services failings and from a key worker who struggled to pay rent after regular isolation periods went unpaid during the pandemic.

And we hear of struggles with Universal Credit alongside tales of tenants suddenly disappearing with months of arrears in their wake.

Thousands and thousands of pounds in unpaid rent passes under the judge’s eyes as landlords and their legal teams press the courts to act.

Where he has discretion, he applies it carefully, considering the impact of mental health issues, suspending possession orders to give people chance to catch up with their missed rent and postponing action against one anxious tenant to allow her time to seek support.

But many of these cases are ‘Section 8’ evictions and providing claimants do their part, judges can’t stop them from going ahead – some people are given just 14 days to vacate their home.

Bailiffs will be tasked to enforce evictions if tenants refuse to leave

Some of the region’s biggest housing associations are here and their representatives know these courts inside out. They usually succeed in their eviction efforts because this is usually the last stop along a long road littered with attempts to engage with tenants.

Special Report: Your rights as a tenant explained

One representative tells me they’ve never seen a financial crisis like the one facing their tenants today. Housing workers, he says, are not only sorting out tenancy issues – they’re arranging food vouchers and helping people tackle fuel poverty.

Duty solicitor Claire Harrington, of the Watson and Woodhouse firm, is worried: “I don’t know how people are expected to manage,” she says.

“I expect to see cases here increase – the cost-of-living crisis means people will suffer and arrears are already scary, it is heart-breaking.

“Just three months of arrears and you could end up here.”

But, there’s help available – seek free legal support, show up to your court hearings and take all the advice you can because, she says, “sometimes possessions can be stopped.”

Her last case of the day proves her point – a wrongfully filed ‘no fault’ eviction is thrown out of court in seconds and the tenant is allowed to stay in her home.

After a string of lost homes, broken tenancies and eviction threats, I leave the courtroom knowing that even at this late stage, with the right support, there can still be hope for some.

For support with housing issues, contact Citizens Advice or Shelter. 

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