THE government refused to bring forward new legislation to prevent a looming evictions epidemic today, ignoring the pleas of struggling tenants.
The Labour Party joined councils and housing charities this week in pushing ministers to extend the ban on evictions — implemented at the start of the coronavirus pandemic — past September 20.
But deputy chief whip Stuart Andrew announced today that there would be no time allocated for MPs to debate evictions legislation before the suspension lifts.
Shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire slammed the government for dragging its feet on the issue for months, before extending it for a mere four weeks just days shy of its original August expiry date.
“Labour has been saying for months that the government needs a credible plan to prevent a dramatic rise in homelessness when the ban on evictions is lifted,” she said.
“As things stand, we are facing the same cliff edge next week that the government narrowly avoided at the end of August.
“Ministers promised that no-one would lose their home because of coronavirus. They must urgently change course and bring forward the urgent legal changes that are needed before next week.”
More than 3,000 property repossession claims were lodged in court by landlords or mortgage lenders during the coronavirus lockdown despite the delay on eviction proceedings, new data from the Ministry of Justice shows.
Some 95 per cent of the 3,183 claims made between April and June were from private and social landlords, with the remaining 5 per cent from mortgage lenders.
Community campaign group Acorn is calling on the government to urgently extend protections, including for those behind on their mortgage payments.
Mortgage payment holidays, first introduced in March, are set to end on October 31.
Acorn national chairman Tom Renhard said: “One person at risk of homelessness is still one too many, and the latest figures show thousands of people at risk.
“This is likely to spike as the furlough scheme comes to an end and many more people may struggle to pay their bills.
“We are in the middle of a public-health emergency and people being made homeless could increase the risk of Covid-19 cases.”
Landlords in England must also give tenants six months’ notice of eviction under a new rule which will last until at least March 31 next year.
But tenants involved in the most serious cases, such as those regarding anti-social behaviour or those with over six months of rent arrears, will receive just four weeks’ notice.
In Wales, a similar six months’ notice rule is in place until at least the end of this month.
Jon Sparkes, chief executive of the Crisis housing charity, said: “The government still has time to intervene and protect people from being swept into homelessness.
“We urgently need renters who are struggling to afford their rent and in arrears to be given financial support from government.”
Housing charity Shelter said that time is running out for the government to extend the evictions delay and increase housing benefit.
It has urged supporters to sign a petition calling for urgent action on the matter.
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokeswoman said that the government’s measures “strike a fair balance” between “supporting landlords to act in the most serious cases while keeping the public safe.”
