Data highlighted by the Legal Action Group (LAG) in conjunction with homelessness charity Shelter has raised fears that many across England and Wales are being left without the means to take legal action against eviction. According to figures from the Ministry of Justice, legal aid-funded challenges to evictions were down 18 per cent between April and June this year compared with the same period in 2015. However, the number of households in rented accommodation that are forcibly removed from their homes is at an all-time high, up 53 per cent since 2010 to 42,728 households last year.

The slump in legal challenges has reinforced fears that cuts to legal aid funding introduced by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LAPSO) Act 2012 are creating ‘advice deserts’ across England and Wales, in which there a few if any legal aid lawyers available to assist with housing cases. ‘People on low incomes facing homelessness and eviction are struggling to get the local face-to-face advice they desperately need and are entitled to by law,’ says the LAG in its report.

Read the full report here.

Sources: Legal Action Group; The Guardian