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CIH joins calls for government action to avoid evictions spike
The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has become the latest organisation to call for government action to prevent a potential spike in evictions when a de facto ban ends this month.
Ministers in England must extend the eviction moratorium and boost the welfare system to ensure tenants are protected, the body said among detailed proposals published today.
James Prestwich, director of policy and external affairs at the CIH, warned that council and social landlord homelessness services “could be overwhelmed” by a surge in evictions caused by rent arrears built up because of COVID-19’s economic impacts.
In March, legislation was passed extending evictions notice periods from two months to three, while the courts suspended all possession hearings for 90 days.
There are fears that tenants who were already subject to possessions proceedings before the ban and those who have since fallen behind on rent after losing income could be turfed out when the measures end on 25 June.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has said the government is working on a “pre-action protocol” that would require landlords to work with tenants to overcome rent arrears before starting eviction proceedings.
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At the start of May, Citizens Advice said that around 2.6 million private tenants had already missed a rent payment since the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK – including many in households with key workers.
The CIH said the ban should be extended “until evictions can take place safely” and that those arising from coronavirus-related rent arrears should be prevented entirely, with no-fault Section 21 evictions also scrapped.
Universal Credit should be reformed to end the five-week wait for first payments, temporarily suspend the benefit cap and two-child limit, increase Local Housing Allowance rates to cover median rents and end the lower “shared accommodation rate” for people under 35, it added.
“For the eight million households who are tenants of private or social landlords, a key part of the hardship and suffering during the crisis has been the struggle to pay their rent and worrying if they will be able to keep their home.
“If our society and the economy are to recover from the crisis, it is vital that these fears are allayed quickly and thoroughly.
“We do not start from a good place.
“Local authorities’ and social landlords’ resources for dealing with homelessness were stretched before the epidemic and could be overwhelmed if there is a sudden growth in evictions due to rent arrears.”
The proposals also include an interest-free loan scheme to cover landlords’ loss of rental income and one-off payments for social landlords which have taken a financial hit from coronavirus-related arrears.
Mr Prestwich added that passing the burden onto landlords could “deplete the sector just when that capacity is most needed” through defaults on mortgages and forced sales.
London mayor Sadiq Khan last week called the eviction ban deadline “a ticking time bomb”, while Labour shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire has said the government’s plan “is not enough”.
Housing charity Shelter warned that the government’s promise to protect renters is at risk of becoming merely “words on a page”, and Citizens Advice has called for further measures.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has said it is “carefully considering the next steps on how best to support both tenants and landlords to ensure fairness in the rental market”.
The CIH developed its proposals with the help of Liz Davies, a barrister at Garden Court Chambers. It is working on submissions to the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments.
