Shelter and Crisis responses to second government extension of the evictions ban in England

The government has announced today that it will extend the current evictions ban by a further four weeks until 20 September 2020 to allow for further work to be done to prepare for the stay to be lifted.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “The government has today recognised the very real danger that tens of thousands of renters are in. It is right for the government not to lift the ban when it risks exposing people to eviction and the threat of homelessness with no means of defence.

“The government must use this short window of time wisely to put proper safeguards in place for renters. People are still falling behind on their rent – 230,000 private tenants since March - leaving them vulnerable when the ban does end. And we all know even more economic storm clouds are gathering.

“A bullet may have been dodged with this extension, but as soon as Parliament returns, it must give judges extra powers to stop renters being evicted because of ‘Covid-arrears’. Facing eviction this Christmas, is not a present anybody wants.”

Statistics from YouGov polling carried out for Shelter in June 2020, show:

• By end of June 2020, an estimated 227,000 adult private renters (3%) had fallen into arrears since the start of the pandemic.
• 174,000 private tenants have already been threatened with eviction by their landlord or letting agent (accounting for 6% who’ve had some contact or 2% of private tenants overall).
• Without the ban, anyone who accrues rent arrears of eight weeks or more can be automatically evicted under the current court system. This is in addition to the risk of being subjected to a Section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction.

ENDS

Notes to the editor:

• All survey results are based on a YouGov survey of 1,058 private renters in England, online, 16+, weighted to be presentative of England’s private renters using official statistics, fieldwork 4th June to 11th June 2020.
• The 230,000 in the headline is a rounding up of the 226,785 we estimate are in arrears now but weren’t in March 2020 – see line 2 in the first table below.
• The 3% in arrears now, but not in March 2020, shown in the second row of the first table below is calculated by combining the responses to two separate questions, one asking whether they were behind/ in arrears as at March 2020, and a further question asking if they are behind/ in arrears now
• Estimated equivalent numbers of people are calculated by Shelter using the survey results in conjunction with statistics from the English Housing Survey, MHCLG, 2018/19, the Census and ONS population estimates by single year. We estimate there to be 8.675 million adult private renters in England. This is a different figure to the number of homes, which will be smaller.

Eviction ban extended until 20 September – Crisis responds

Numerous outlets are reporting that the Westminster Government is extending the eviction ban in England until 20 September 2020.

Commenting on this Jon Sparkes, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: “While this announcement provides some relief for people anxiously waiting to hear if they will lose their homes or not, such a short extension is deeply unsatisfactory.

“The Government must now use this time to address the issue properly, otherwise all they are doing is pushing the problem further down the track. With job cuts coming thick and fast, we know that tens of thousands of people are now bracing themselves for another anxious month ahead wondering if they’ll be able to keep a roof over their head.

“We need more than delaying tactics. The Government must introduce emergency legislation in the next month so that once the courts do begin to process claims, judges will have the power to ensure that no one is unfairly evicted. Alongside this, they must provide financial support for renters struggling with arrears, so they can remain safe in their homes in the long-term.”