A HIGHLY-QUALIFIED businessman facing life on the streets within weeks, has warned other homeowners they could face the same fate.

Trevor Oakley, 50, faces losing his flat in Inverness Avenue, Westcliff, next Tuesday, after getting £1,400 behind on his mortgage payments.

The IT specialist, who has a masters degree in control systems and a graduate diploma in law, has struggled to get a job and fails to meet the criteria for state help, so has little alternative to sleeping rough.

Mr Oakley, who got into financial difficulties about two years ago after his e-commerce business failed, said: “I just think people with mortgages need to understand that if they do get into difficulties, they are on their own.

“There is no Government magic wand.”

Mr Oakely has applied for about 50 jobs in the IT sector since income from his online bathroom fittings business started dwindling.

He has also completed part of a Phd and a teaching qualification, and says he tried delivering pizzas and fundraising for charities, on the minimumwage, but found the work so mind-numbing it felt like “mental torture”.

He said: “I literally couldn’t do them. I was unable.”

Mr Oakley faces a repossession order at a hearing next Tuesday after failing to pay his £200-a-month mortgage for the £66,000 one-bedroom flat, in which he has lived since 2002, for seven months.

If the court issues the order, he could be kicked out within six weeks. Until March, the Government offered a mortgage rescue scheme for some people facing repossessions, where the Government bought out the mortgage and the householder rented it back.

Mr Oakley believes people should be guaranteed housing and utilities as a “human right” and feels more affordable housing should be built to drive down the cost of living.