The government has extended its temporary ban on evicting tenants by a month after it was warned that letting the moratorium lapse would create a “wave of homelessness”.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed on Friday afternoon that the suspension of evictions would continue until 20 September.
Landlords will also be required to give six months’ notice to any tenants they want to evict, with this separate provision in force until “at least 31 March 2021”, ministers said.
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But a senior Tory politician warned that the move did not go far enough and suggested the ban on evictions should have been extended until spring next year.
Evictions in England were due to start again on Sunday, with approximately 227,000 private renters known to have fallen into arrears as of the end of June, and 174,000 known to have been threatened with eviction by their landlord or agent.
The Scottish government has already extended a full ban on evictions to March 2021, while in Wales, where the new extension will also apply, any eviction will require a notice period of six months.
Lord Pickles, a former Tory cabinet minister, said he “would have preferred to see an extension until spring”.
That would allow the government time to make a number of changes that could ease the impact of any lift of the ban, he said.
As the government’s furlough scheme winds down between now and the end of October it will also “become more apparent the number of people who have lost jobs”, he told the BBC.
A number of Tory MPs are also understood to have made their concerns known in recent days about this weekend’s upcoming cliff edge.
The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, who had called for an extension in The Independent earlier this week, said: “This eleventh-hour U-turn was necessary, but such a brief extension means there is a real risk that this will simply give renters a few more weeks to pack their bags.”
He added that the prime minister had “been warned for months about the looming evictions crisis, but stuck his head in the sand”, and he called for Section 21 evictions to be scrapped, as the government has promised.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank also said the government should go further and extend the ban for six months.
“Today’s announcement provides renters with some breathing space. However, we know they are more likely to have been adversely affected by Covid-19,” said Luke Murphy, IPPR associate director.
“Even now, the government is withdrawing measures of support for private renters sooner than they are for landlords, who can obtain a mortgage holiday until the end of October.
“Ministers must step in and extend the ban on evictions for another six months if they are to prevent a potential surge in homelessness.”
The Lib Dems and Greens said the extension did not go far enough.
Housing charities welcomed the move but said more needed to be done. Polly Neate, chief executive of the charity Shelter, said the government had “dodged a bullet” on homelessness and that it “must use this short window of time wisely to put proper safeguards in place for renters”.
The Independent reported this week on families hit by the economic effects of the pandemic and who are set to be made homeless when the ban ends.
Ghazal Haqani, an organiser with the London Renters Union, said: “This U-turn has been forced through by people power. But until there’s a permanent evictions ban and rent debt is forgiven, the government will just be kicking the can down the road.
“We’ve had a series of short-term extensions, and that’s caused enormous misery and stress for renters like me. Because so many of us are in arrears, we have been constantly worried for months that we are about to become totally defenceless against landlords who want to kick us out of our homes. It looks like that could happen all over again in September.
“Rents have been sky-high for decades; the pandemic has cut our incomes, and this recession has only just begun. Of course we’re in arrears, and of course we’re not going to be able to pay off our rent debt for a very long time.”
One group not pleased by the announcement was the National Residential Landlords Association, which said the extension was “unacceptable”.
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1/50 21 AugustHarri Teale gathers lavender during the annual harvest on the Wolds Way Lavender farm near Malton in North Yorkshire
PA
2/50 20 AugustParents and a student react after checking GCSE results at Ark Academy in London
Reuters
3/50 19 AugustTate Modern workers hold a strike outside the gallery in London, to protest the institution’s announcement that it would cut more than 300 jobs from its commercial arm, Tate Enterprises
PA
4/50 18 AugustTwo rescued brown bear cubs, Mish (left) and Lucy, cool off in a pool after arriving at their new home with the wildlife conservation charity Wildwood Trust in Herne Bay, Kent. The orphaned pair, who have been living in a temporary home in Belgium since they were found abandoned and alone in a snowdrift in the Albanian mountains, will be acclimatised to their new life in the country before moving to a permanent home
PA
5/50 17 AugustA level students celebrate outside the Department for Education in London after it was confirmed that candidates in England will be given grades estimated by their teachers, rather than by an algorithm. The government U-turn comes just days after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson vowed there would be “no U-turn, no change.
PA
6/50 16 AugustWasp players take a knee as Northampton Saints stand prior to kick-off in their Premiership match at Franklin’s Gardens
PA
7/50 15 AugustPiper Colour Sergeant Lil Bahadur Gurung attends the VJ Day National Remembrance event, held at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, Britain
Reuters
8/50 14 AugustPeople including students hold placards on Whitehall outside Downing Street as they protest against the downgrading of A-level results. The government faced criticism after education officials downgraded more than a third of pupils’ final grades in a system devised after the coronavirus pandemic led to cancelled exams yes
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PA
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BBC
11/50 11 August 2020A woman hydrates in the sun after open water swimming at the West Reservoir Centre in north London
Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty
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Reuters
13/50 9 August 2020People cycle through Cambridge as the heatwave continues in Britain
EPA
14/50 8 August 2020Healthcare workers take part in a protest in London over pay conditions in the NHS
Getty
15/50 7 August 2020Emergency services make their way along the seafront on Bournemouth beach in Dorset on one of the hottest days of the year
PA
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PA
17/50 5 August 2020Pakistan’s Abid Ali being bowled by England’s Jofra Archer during day one of the First Test match at the Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
PA
18/50 4 August 2020The ‘Timbuktu tumblers’ from Kenya perform their balancing act on the Southsea waterfront as Zippos Circus reopens in Portsmouth
Rex
19/50 3 August 2020Pelicans interact with a visitor in St James’s Park in London
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20/50 2 August 2020Lewis Hamilton drives with a puncture towards the finish line to win the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone
POOL/AFP via Getty
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Pool via Reuters
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23/50 30 July 2020An artist puts the finishing touches to a wax figure of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in the entrance line at Madame Tussaud’s in London, as the attraction prepares to reopen to the public following the easing of lockdown restrictions in England
PA
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PA
25/50 28 July 2020Stuart Broad celebrates after taking the wicket of West Indies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite. It was a milestone wicket in his career, reaching his 500th Test Wicket for England. They went on to beat the West Indies in Manchester and therefore win the series 2-1
Getty/ECB
26/50 27 July 2020Demonstrators protest outside the Tate Modern in London over proposed job losses in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. The group believe that the emergency money provided by the government to culture-based organisations should be used to retain all jobs and that any other use of the funding is unfair. The gallery on London’s South Bank, as well as the Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, reopened today after closing in March due to lockdown measures meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus
Getty
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Pool via Reuters
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AFP via Getty
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PA
30/50 23 July 2020A customer has her hair cut outside at Blade Hairdressers in Soho in London
Getty
31/50 22 July 2020Liverpool’s English midfielder Jordan Henderson lifts the Premier League trophy during the presentation following the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield in Liverpool. Liverpool on Wednesday lifted the Premier League trophy at the famous Kop stand at Anfield after their final home game of the season
AFP via Getty
32/50 21 July 2020Vivienne Westwood demonstrates outside the Old Bailey in support of Julian Assange in London
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33/50 20 July 2020Comet Neowise in the skies over the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire
PA
34/50 19 July 2020Mods and rockers unite on Madeira Drive, Brighton, for a demonstration to call for the reopening of the road which Brighton & Hove City Council plans to keep closed permanently
PA
35/50 18 July 2020People enjoy the sunny weather at Painshill, an 18th century landscape garden in Cobham, Surrey
PA
36/50 17 July 2020Captain Sir Thomas Moore receives his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth, during a ceremony at Windsor Castle
AP
37/50 16 July 2020Red Arrows do a flypast during the Graduation Ceremony of the Queen’s Squadron at RAF College Cranwell, Lincolnshire
The Daily Telegraph/PA
38/50 15 July 2020Jen Reid poses in front of a black resin and steel statue titled ‘A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020’, which is based on her by Marc Quinn, where it has been installed on the vacant Edward Colston plinth in Bristol city centre. The original statue was pulled down and thrown into Bristol Harbour during Black Lives Matter protests
PA
39/50 14 July 2020Fields of echium and borage in full flower near the town of Thaxted in Essex
PA
40/50 13 July 2020People ride a rollercoaster in a theme park next to Southend pier. Many businesses in tourism and hospitality have been able to reopen after some lockdown measures were eased
Getty
41/50 12 July 2020West Indies’s John Campbell and Jason Holder celebrate winning the test as England’s Rory Burns and teammates look on dejected
Reuters
42/50 11 July 2020Chicldren play in the water during a cricket match between Abinger and Worplesdon & Nurpham in Abinger Hammer, Surrey
Reuters
43/50 10 July 2020People gather for the funeral of Dame Vera Lynn in Ditchling, England. During World War II she travelled to the frontlines, including Burma, entertaining British troops and boosting morale. She died on 18 June at her home in West Sussex
Getty
44/50 9 July 2020Artist Anish Kapoor looks into his sculpture ‘Sky Mirror’ at Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, ahead of the opening of his largest UK exhibition of outdoor sculptures
PA
45/50 8 July 2020Players take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on the first day of the first Test cricket match between England and the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton
AFP via Getty
46/50 7 July 2020A circus performer from the Association of Circus Proprietors in Whitehall, London. The association handed a petition to Downing Street to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow circuses to reopen
EPA
47/50 6 July 2020Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, which re-opened to the public after being closed due to the coronavirus lockdown
PA
48/50 5 July 2020People visit Columbia Road Flower Market, London, as it reopens following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England
PA
49/50 4 July 2020A member of bar staff wearing PPE in the form of a face mask, pours drinks inside the The Goldengrove in Stratford
AFP via Getty
50/50 3 July 2020Cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands prior to the League One play-off semi final match between Portsmouth and Oxford United at Fratton Park
PA
1/50 21 AugustHarri Teale gathers lavender during the annual harvest on the Wolds Way Lavender farm near Malton in North Yorkshire
PA
2/50 20 AugustParents and a student react after checking GCSE results at Ark Academy in London
Reuters
3/50 19 AugustTate Modern workers hold a strike outside the gallery in London, to protest the institution’s announcement that it would cut more than 300 jobs from its commercial arm, Tate Enterprises
PA
4/50 18 AugustTwo rescued brown bear cubs, Mish (left) and Lucy, cool off in a pool after arriving at their new home with the wildlife conservation charity Wildwood Trust in Herne Bay, Kent. The orphaned pair, who have been living in a temporary home in Belgium since they were found abandoned and alone in a snowdrift in the Albanian mountains, will be acclimatised to their new life in the country before moving to a permanent home
PA
5/50 17 AugustA level students celebrate outside the Department for Education in London after it was confirmed that candidates in England will be given grades estimated by their teachers, rather than by an algorithm. The government U-turn comes just days after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson vowed there would be “no U-turn, no change.
PA
6/50 16 AugustWasp players take a knee as Northampton Saints stand prior to kick-off in their Premiership match at Franklin’s Gardens
PA
7/50 15 AugustPiper Colour Sergeant Lil Bahadur Gurung attends the VJ Day National Remembrance event, held at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, Britain
Reuters
8/50 14 AugustPeople including students hold placards on Whitehall outside Downing Street as they protest against the downgrading of A-level results. The government faced criticism after education officials downgraded more than a third of pupils’ final grades in a system devised after the coronavirus pandemic led to cancelled exams yes
AFP via Getty
9/50 13 AugustBenita Stipp (centre) and Mimi Ferguson (left) react as students at Norwich School receive their A-Level results
PA
10/50 12 August 2020A train derailment near Stonehaven has left three people dead. Driver Brett McCullough, conductor Donald Dinnie, and a passenger were killed when the 6.38am Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street service crashed amid heavy rain and flooding
BBC
11/50 11 August 2020A woman hydrates in the sun after open water swimming at the West Reservoir Centre in north London
Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty
12/50 10 August 2020Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes part in an archery session as he visits Premier Education Summer Camp at Sacred Heart of Mary Girls’ in Upminster
Reuters
13/50 9 August 2020People cycle through Cambridge as the heatwave continues in Britain
EPA
14/50 8 August 2020Healthcare workers take part in a protest in London over pay conditions in the NHS
Getty
15/50 7 August 2020Emergency services make their way along the seafront on Bournemouth beach in Dorset on one of the hottest days of the year
PA
16/50 6 August 2020Alison Murphy poses for a picture by husband Peter as she walks through a field of sunflowers in Altrincham, Cheshire
PA
17/50 5 August 2020Pakistan’s Abid Ali being bowled by England’s Jofra Archer during day one of the First Test match at the Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester
PA
18/50 4 August 2020The ‘Timbuktu tumblers’ from Kenya perform their balancing act on the Southsea waterfront as Zippos Circus reopens in Portsmouth
Rex
19/50 3 August 2020Pelicans interact with a visitor in St James’s Park in London
PA
20/50 2 August 2020Lewis Hamilton drives with a puncture towards the finish line to win the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone
POOL/AFP via Getty
21/50 1 August 2020Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates with the trophy and teammates after winning the FA Cup, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease
Pool via Reuters
22/50 31 July 2020People enjoy the sunny weather at a Bournemouth Beach
Reuters
23/50 30 July 2020An artist puts the finishing touches to a wax figure of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in the entrance line at Madame Tussaud’s in London, as the attraction prepares to reopen to the public following the easing of lockdown restrictions in England
PA
24/50 29 July 2020A member of staff stands on Ai Weiwei’s ‘History of Bombs’ during a photocall for the Chinese artist’s new work on display at the Imperial War Museum in London
PA
25/50 28 July 2020Stuart Broad celebrates after taking the wicket of West Indies batsman Kraigg Brathwaite. It was a milestone wicket in his career, reaching his 500th Test Wicket for England. They went on to beat the West Indies in Manchester and therefore win the series 2-1
Getty/ECB
26/50 27 July 2020Demonstrators protest outside the Tate Modern in London over proposed job losses in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown. The group believe that the emergency money provided by the government to culture-based organisations should be used to retain all jobs and that any other use of the funding is unfair. The gallery on London’s South Bank, as well as the Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives, reopened today after closing in March due to lockdown measures meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus
Getty
27/50 26 July 2020Harry Maguire shakes hands with Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers after Manchester United beat the Foxes. The win meant they finished third in the Premier League and Leicester finished outside a Champions League place in fourth
Pool via Reuters
28/50 25 July 2020Women exercise using pool noodles during an aqua fit class at a gym in Sunbury-on-Thames after gyms and swimming pools were allowed to reopen
AFP via Getty
29/50 24 July 2020Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tries out a new Streetspace protected cycle lane in London at the launch a new online cycle training scheme
PA
30/50 23 July 2020A customer has her hair cut outside at Blade Hairdressers in Soho in London
Getty
31/50 22 July 2020Liverpool’s English midfielder Jordan Henderson lifts the Premier League trophy during the presentation following the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield in Liverpool. Liverpool on Wednesday lifted the Premier League trophy at the famous Kop stand at Anfield after their final home game of the season
AFP via Getty
32/50 21 July 2020Vivienne Westwood demonstrates outside the Old Bailey in support of Julian Assange in London
Reuters
33/50 20 July 2020Comet Neowise in the skies over the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire
PA
34/50 19 July 2020Mods and rockers unite on Madeira Drive, Brighton, for a demonstration to call for the reopening of the road which Brighton & Hove City Council plans to keep closed permanently
PA
35/50 18 July 2020People enjoy the sunny weather at Painshill, an 18th century landscape garden in Cobham, Surrey
PA
36/50 17 July 2020Captain Sir Thomas Moore receives his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth, during a ceremony at Windsor Castle
AP
37/50 16 July 2020Red Arrows do a flypast during the Graduation Ceremony of the Queen’s Squadron at RAF College Cranwell, Lincolnshire
The Daily Telegraph/PA
38/50 15 July 2020Jen Reid poses in front of a black resin and steel statue titled ‘A Surge of Power (Jen Reid) 2020’, which is based on her by Marc Quinn, where it has been installed on the vacant Edward Colston plinth in Bristol city centre. The original statue was pulled down and thrown into Bristol Harbour during Black Lives Matter protests
PA
39/50 14 July 2020Fields of echium and borage in full flower near the town of Thaxted in Essex
PA
40/50 13 July 2020People ride a rollercoaster in a theme park next to Southend pier. Many businesses in tourism and hospitality have been able to reopen after some lockdown measures were eased
Getty
41/50 12 July 2020West Indies’s John Campbell and Jason Holder celebrate winning the test as England’s Rory Burns and teammates look on dejected
Reuters
42/50 11 July 2020Chicldren play in the water during a cricket match between Abinger and Worplesdon & Nurpham in Abinger Hammer, Surrey
Reuters
43/50 10 July 2020People gather for the funeral of Dame Vera Lynn in Ditchling, England. During World War II she travelled to the frontlines, including Burma, entertaining British troops and boosting morale. She died on 18 June at her home in West Sussex
Getty
44/50 9 July 2020Artist Anish Kapoor looks into his sculpture ‘Sky Mirror’ at Houghton Hall, King’s Lynn, ahead of the opening of his largest UK exhibition of outdoor sculptures
PA
45/50 8 July 2020Players take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on the first day of the first Test cricket match between England and the West Indies at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton
AFP via Getty
46/50 7 July 2020A circus performer from the Association of Circus Proprietors in Whitehall, London. The association handed a petition to Downing Street to ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to allow circuses to reopen
EPA
47/50 6 July 2020Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland, which re-opened to the public after being closed due to the coronavirus lockdown
PA
48/50 5 July 2020People visit Columbia Road Flower Market, London, as it reopens following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England
PA
49/50 4 July 2020A member of bar staff wearing PPE in the form of a face mask, pours drinks inside the The Goldengrove in Stratford
AFP via Getty
50/50 3 July 2020Cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands prior to the League One play-off semi final match between Portsmouth and Oxford United at Fratton Park
PA
Ben Beadle, the organisation’s CEO, said: “An enormous amount of work as gone into finding a balance between supporting tenants who have been affected by the pandemic and preventing significant financial harm to landlords, in accordance with the government’s promise. This announcement satisfies no one.”
Announcing the move, the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, said: “I know this year has been challenging and all of us are still living with the effects of Covid-19. That is why today I am announcing a further four-week ban on evictions, meaning no renters will have been evicted for six months.
“I am also increasing protections for renters – six-month notice periods must be given to tenants, supporting renters over winter.
“However, it is right that the most egregious cases, for example those involving anti-social behaviour or domestic abuse perpetrators, begin to be heard in court again; and so when courts reopen, landlords will once again be able to progress these priority cases.”
Source: UK Politics - www.independent.co.uk