Fears of spike in homelessness when eviction rules lifted on Sunday

The moratorium on evicting renters will be lifted this Sunday, prompting worries about a potential surge in homelessness. Research by the homelessness charity Shelter found that 227,000 private renters have fallen into arrears since the pandemic started. Additionally, YouGov polling commissioned by Shelter found that 174,000 private renters have already been threatened with eviction. An estimated 33,000 persons have already been rendered homeless during the crisis according to a survey of councils by the New Statesman.

Labour is calling on the government to extend the ban on evictions in England once more, after already doing so on 25 June. The Scottish government has already extended the ban on evictions until March 2021.

However, not all housing economists are convinced that lifting the temporary eviction clamp-down will be beneficial. One said: “You need to ask what you are getting at the end of it. The main result would be to keep people in places they can no longer afford and keep them from adjusting. A few months down the line all they will have is more debts and we’ll probably be seeing high levels of unemployment.”

Others added that landlords’ interests also need to be considered. “Landlords are individuals who need money as well. Many operate on a small scale and are retirees. Under the circumstances it may well be sensible for landlords to keep their tenants and work out arrangements on payments as best they can.”

Many are doing just that. Figures released by the National Residential Landlord’s Association in May found that 44% of landlords had received at least one request from a tenant to renegotiate their tenancy in some way, and 90% had agreed to do so.

One landlord, who spoke to Reaction anonymously and who owns 17 properties said: “I have lots of long-term tenants and I value the relationships I have with them. From the very start of the crisis I offered to work out an arrangement if they had a problem with paying, and more and more have taken up this offer over time.”

Still, even though the landlord prefers payment plans to complete holidays, she admitted: “I’ll be amazed if some of them ever catch-up on their arrears, and I may end up waiving them. In a year like this I’ll be relieved if I managed to avoid losses.”

Given the scale of the crisis, many feel more support does need to be offered to tenants and landlords alike.

“A few good moves have already been made” according to Joe Lane, Principal Policy Manager of Citizens Advice. More money for Discretionary Housing Payments, aimed to help renters in arrears, has been made available to councils by government – and £30 million has already been paid out by 200 councils.

Citizens Advice would like to see the government go further than this. Wales has rolled out a loans scheme to help renters in arrears. Citizens Advice and a number of groups are lobbying the government in Westminster to introduce a similar measure in England.

Lane added: “Ideally I would also like to see the loans converted, partly or wholly, into grants, otherwise we risk a legacy of problem of bad debts and struggling renters.”

Similarly, while tenants’ rights have been slightly strengthened, many are calling for still more action.

Under normal circumstances, renters have 2 months to leave on being served notice. This has now been extended to 3 months in England and 6 months in Wales, subject to expiry 30 September. Additionally, when seeking eviction landlords will be required to provide judges with information on how the pandemic has affected their tenant’s finances when seeking eviction warrants.

But the new requirement seems to mean little in pratice. Housing law still allows landlords to evict shorthold tenants, the most common form of tenancy, without giving reason under Section 21 and to seek automatic eviction of any tenants eight weeks into arrears under Section 8.

The one silver lining that tenants might find under this system is that judges already have a massive back-log of cases to work through. As such, they are likely to prioritise particularly egregious cases involving domestic abuse, antisocial behaviours and large arrears accrued before the pandemic.

There are plans to reform housing law, in particular Section 21. However, the Renters’ Reform Bill, first announced in December 2019, has yet to come before Parliament and is expected some time in 2021.

Lane notes that: “A striking feature of this crisis is how few policy levers the government has to help renters.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with renting help is available from Shelter and Citizens Advice.