One in eight women in the UK, equal to more than 750,000 people, have experienced economic abuse from a current or former partner in the past two years through their joint mortgage, according to the Locked into a mortgage, locked out of my home report commissioned by Surviving Economic Abuse.
Perpetrators refuse to pay their agreed share of the mortgage, agree to new terms, or to sell up. The mortgage-based abuse traps victim-survivors with abusers, while those who flee are forced into housing insecurity and debt, the charity argues.
“Mortgage abuse is a hidden crime that’s destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of survivors,” said interim chief executive Sam Smethers.
Surviving Economic Abuse is urging the government to set up a task force with financial services, legal and domestic abuse experts to strengthen protection for victim-survivors and stop perpetrators from using joint mortgages to abuse. The report also calls on financial service firms to increase support for customers experiencing mortgage-based abuse and take steps under existing guidelines to make it harder for perpetrators to use joint mortgages to cause economic harm. In addition, the financial services watchdog should strengthen regulations so firms can avoid causing harm to customers experiencing economic abuse.
