THE expiry of the government’s eviction ban on Monday will lead to thousands of people losing their home and risks worsening the new wave of coronavirus infections, housing campaigners and public-health experts warned today.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has so far refused to extend the suspension of eviction proceedings, despite the daily total of new Covid-19 cases increasing to between 3,000 and nearly 4,000 this week.

“There couldn’t be a worse time to lift the eviction ban,” said campaigner Siddhartha Mehta of health charity Medact.