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Government urged to provide £270m for renters to prevent thousands of evictions

An emergency grant and loan package worth up to £270m should be made available to support private renters who have fallen into arrears during the COVID-19 pandemic, charities and landlord bodies have said.

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Picture: Getty
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Government urged to provide £270m for renters to prevent thousands of evictions #UKhousing

“We simply cannot afford to lurch into another devastating homelessness crisis now that will ruin countless lives and undermine the country’s economic recovery,” says @pollyn1 #UKhousing

Grant and loans for private renters needed to prevent wave of COVID-19 evictions says @Shelter, @crisis_uk, @NRLAssociation, @arla_uk, @genrentuk and @CitizensAdvice #UKhousing

A coalition of charities and housing trade groups have called for short-term funding to help renters who have lost out on income or been furloughed during the coronavirus crisis in order to prevent evictions when the ban is lifted at the end of September.

Shelter, the National Residential Landlords Association, ARLA Propertymark, Crisis, Citizens Advice and Generation Rent said the emergency package represents just 0.013% of UK GDP and could prevent increasing levels of homelessness.

The coalition said the fund would be limited to helping tenants pay off any unexpected rent arrears built up since the start of the pandemic and cited YouGov polling from last week which showed that 322,000 of adult private renters – 4% of all renters – had fallen behind on payments over the course of the pandemic.

The organisations called for ringfenced grants for renters already in receipt of government benefits, or those who would otherwise be eligible for benefits but have no recourse to public funds, to be distributed by councils.


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Government-backed interest free loans for other tenants who can afford to pay them back should also be provided, the coalition said.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Ever since this pandemic gripped hold of the country, causing chaos for hundreds of thousands of renters, our services have been deluged with calls from worried families and workers plunged unexpectedly into debt. When the ban lifts, their ability to clear COVID arrears will be critical if they are to stay safe in their homes.

“We simply cannot afford to lurch into another devastating homelessness crisis now, that will ruin countless lives and undermine the country’s economic recovery. This one-off opportunity to provide emergency relief to those renters most in need must not be missed.”

Chris Norris, policy director at the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “While the vast majority of landlords and tenants have been able to reach agreements where rent arrears have built, in some cases this has proved difficult.

“A financial package, such as that we propose today, would greatly assist tenants and landlords to achieve what we all want, namely to sustain tenancies.”

The government’s stay on evictions was due to end on 24 August but was extended by one month last week.

At the same time, ministers introduced a six-month notice period for evictions, except in cases involving anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse.

A government spokesperson said: “Our extension of the ban on evictions for a further four weeks means no renters will have been evicted for six months and we intend to require landlords to give six months’ notice to tenants before seeking repossession, supporting renters over winter.

“For those who need more support, we have strengthened the welfare safety net with a nearly £9.3bn boost to the welfare system and there is already £180m in Discretionary Housing Payments for councils to distribute to help renters with housing costs in the private and social rented sectors.”

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