Large areas of the country will remain without vital legal advice to prevent eviction if the government can’t get law firms to take part in its Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS) scheme, according to the Law Society. The HLPAS scheme provides urgent free legal aid advice for people facing repossession.

According to the government’s figures, between July and September 2022, there were 744 mortgage repossessions by county court bailiffs, a 91% increase on the same period in 2021. There were also 21,012 landlord repossession actions (evictions), up 106% on the same period in 2021.

Law Society of England and Wales president Lubna Shuja said: “The fact that the government has failed to attract any bids for housing legal aid provision in 12 areas of the UK – including large areas like Liverpool – shows just how unviable it has become for providers.

“For many, this type of contract is becoming increasingly difficult to make this work financially. As a result, some are instead choosing to leave the legal aid market altogether.

“We are really concerned that this could lead to less support being available for families at risk of losing their home at a time when we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.  More and more people are struggling with rising rents, spiralling debt and mortgage costs.

“We already know from our advice desert maps that 24.4m people (41%) do not have access to a housing legal aid provider.

“The government is currently undertaking a review of the civil legal aid market but with this not due to report until 2024, we are calling on the government to provide an immediate injection of funding into the system to prevent it from collapse.”