Today, in the Queen’s speech, the Government has unveiled a raft
of legislative measures for the next parliamentary year which
include:
- Legislation to make the streets safer which a Government
consultation suggests will replace the Vagrancy Act and could be
used to criminalise people sleeping rough.
- Reintroducing the Renters Reform Bill which will scrap
section 21 ‘no fault evictions’.
- Regulating social housing to strengthen rights of
tenants and ensure better quality social homes.
Responding to the speech Matt Downie, Crisis Chief
Executive, said: “This Queen’s speech provides some hope
for renters anxious about being turfed out of their home in the
midst of the cost-of-living crisis and recognises the urgent need
to address poor quality social housing with tenants’ voices at
the heart of this reform.
“But let’s be clear, this speech gives with one hand while taking
with the other. The plan to introduce legislation that has the
potential to criminalise anyone forced to sleep rough is nothing
short of shameful and flies in the face of any effort to tackle
rough sleeping for good. What’s more, we need urgent action to
pull struggling families back from the brink.
“We cannot end homelessness with this mismatched plan. The
Government must take action to provide direct support to families
hit by the cost-of-living crisis and plans to introduce punitive
legislation must be scrapped, if the Government wants to truly
end rough sleeping for good.”
