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Anger over evictions ‘ban’ which ‘fails to protect tenants’
Campaigners have expressed anger at the government’s measures to protect renters during the coronavirus outbreak, after it emerged that a promised ‘ban’ on evictions would take the form of a one-month extension to notice periods.
Yesterday, the new Coronavirus Bill confirmed that notice periods for eviction from rented housing will be lengthened from to three months once the law comes into force.
For most renters this marks a one-month extension on the normal two-month notice period and will mean many could be forced out as early as June.
It also does nothing to protect those who have already been served with a notice or receive one before the bill comes into force.
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The measures were revealed by Inside Housing yesterday before being confirmed in parliament last night. The government had promised a “complete ban” on evictions from social and private social housing.
Caitlin Wilkinson, policy and public affairs manager at Generation Rent, said: “This legislation fails to deliver on these promises in every respect. All these measures do is extend the notice period for evictions to three months, which will provide little comfort to those faced with losing their homes in the midst of a pandemic.”
A government spokesperson said it was "absolute nonsense" to accuse them of rowing back on their promise.
- Tenants can still be served a notice by their landlord, but the statutory notice period has simply been extended from two months to three – leaving residents at risk of eviction in June
- This can be extended to six months by ministers, but this extension will not apply to notices which have already been served
- Notices served before the act comes into force (likely to be Friday) are still valid, meaning tenants could be evicted by May
- No measures have been put in place to manage rent arrears, leaving tenants at risk of piling up huge debts. Buy-to-let landlords have been offered a three-month mortgage holiday
- There is no protection for ‘licencees’ – renters who do not have a formal tenancy which requires a notice period. This covers homeless people in temporary housing, property guardians and lodgers – all of whom have no protection against eviction
The measures introduced also make no provision for the arrears renters may accumulate in the economic turmoil resulting from the coronavirus shutdown, despite the offer of a three-month mortgage holiday to buy-to-let landlords.
“Many renters will end up with thousands of pounds worth of debt and no means of paying it off. Landlords and tenants are expected to ‘work together’ to find a solution to suit both parties from June onwards – but there’s absolutely nothing to stop landlords from evicting tenants if they can’t pay,” Ms Wilkinson added.
Speaking in parliament last night, shadow housing minister Sarah Jones said: “It would be frankly disgraceful for ministers to have promised one thing last week and to have misled renters with a promise to ban evictions, when the reality is nothing like that.”
On Twitter, Greg Beales, campaign director for Shelter, said: “[There is] deep frustration at Shelter with these proposals. We think around 20,000 evictions already underway will carry on. Plus more eviction notices will be landing in [the] coming days and weeks for mid-June. Quite shocking when you think about impact on those isolating or social distancing.”
In a blog summarising the measures, housing lawyer Giles Peaker wrote: “There is no address to the issue of coronavirus related rent arrears, none at all. As this proposed legislation stands, any tenant accruing rent arrears because of the impact of coronavirus (not being able to work, losing their job, self isolating etc) could face immediate possession proceedings three months after the service of a notice seeking possession. One has to expect a tidal wave of possession claims down the line.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “We want to be clear that emergency legislation being brought forward means there can be no evictions as a result of coronavirus for three months. The claim that we are rowing back on it is absolute nonsense.
“As soon as legislation is passed, no new possession proceedings will begin – in either the social sector or the private rented sector – for at least the next 3 months. We have the power to extend this notice period if necessary.”
The spokesperson added that guidance has been issued to judges which makes it "highly unlikely" that any possession proceedings will continue during this period.
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