After several years in which the numbers of evictions have been rising, fewer families were evicted during the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2013.

Numbers from Domstolsstyrelsen, the court administration, show that evictions have fallen by eight percent during the first six months of 2014.

“We have seen a decline in the number of tenants being evicted,” said Carsten Hansen, the housing minister. “It especially means a lot to families with children who are going through hard times.”

READ MORE: Evictions and unpaid bills on the rise

Evictions rose almost continuously from 2002 to 2011. In 2010, 902 households with children were put out onto the streets. More than half of those were single mothers with children. 

Divorce a major cause
Single mothers are one of the groups most vulnerable to eviction, and the number of children evicted more than doubled from 700 in 2002 to about 1,500 in 2010. Divorce is often the cause of families finding themselves on the street.

The government has created number of initiatives to reduce the number of evictions, including financial advice – for example, additional funding for debt advice.

“There are many people attempting to help the tenants who have problems paying their rent,” said Hansen.