One of the major problems tenants face is that their landlords frequently let out their properties without the prior knowledge of the mortgage lender. These so-called “unauthorised lets” mean that tenants have very few rights in the event that the landlord faces repossession hearings.

Mr Mimmack, from the firm who offer not just Birmingham apartments to let but property to rent in Leamington and Warwick property to let , said, “ The credit crunch has left a lot of landlords struggling to maintain their mortgage payments and in the event of their repossession there are many hundreds of tenants who will face eviction. The initiatives announced by the Government are intended to grant courts the power to let tenants remain in their home for up to two months in order to assist them in finding suitable alternative accommodation.”

These changes were proposed this week by Housing Minister, John Healey who added, “I want to change the law to give new protection to those tenants who have no rights when the property they live in is repossessed.” The Government also want lenders to seek alternatives to repossessions wherever possible including appointing Receivers of Rent to manage tenanted properties.

Mr Mimmack from Accord, the letting agents in Birmingham city centre, added, “At the moment, families can find themselves out on the streets at short notice just because their landlord has failed to keep up their mortgage repayments. This seems to be unfair on these tenants and so we welcome these Government initiatives as they will provide an extra layer of protection in these challenging economic times.”

Rather than tenants having a matter of days to find alternative accommodation after the court has granted a repossession order, tenants will now have up to two months before they are forced to leave their property.