Are you afraid that you could lose your home? You’re not alone.

Every day, Shelter hears from people facing the prospect of losing their home.

Last year alone, 360,000 people visited our website, seeking out advice on how to deal with repossession and eviction, representing a 23% increase in visits compared to the year before.

Government statistics released by the Ministry of Justice back up this picture. In 2014-15, there were over 180,000 claims lodged in the court system to evict households.

That’s over 180,000 letters from the courts sent to households across England, telling over 400,000 people that court action may be taken to remove them from their home.

To put it in context – every hour 50 people are at risk of losing their home.

The problem is particularly bad for renters. In the past year one in every 53 renting households was served a claim for possession from their landlord. These claims resulted in almost 100,000 renters being forcibly evicted from their homes – the highest level in at least 15 years.

Shelter is here to help. We provide a range of services, including online advice, a free telephone helpline, and expert legal advice for repossession hearings. It’s vital that anyone struggling to pay their housing comes to us for help as soon as they can – it can make all the difference between losing your home and keeping it.

We offer help to as many families who are struggling as we can. But we can’t fix this alone.

To ensure that everyone has a home in the long-term, the government needs to fix the broken housing market, stop cutting the safety net and start building the homes we need.

Right now, the government has to do more to ensure that ordinary families aren’t evicted from their homes. Cuts to housing benefit mean those who fall on hard times don’t get the help they need.  Further cuts could make this situation even worse.

If you need housing advice please visit the Shelter website at www.shelter.org.uk/advice, or call our helpline on 0808 800 4444.