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Government fails to commit to eviction ban extension
The government has failed to commit to reinstating the eviction ban that was in place in England and Wales over the first six months of the COVID-19 crisis, as both countries experience a second national lockdown.
In response to a question by Inside Housing on whether the ban would be reintroduced, the government did not respond directly but instead pointed to a series of existing measures that have been put in place to protect renters, including the six-month notice period for the majority of eviction cases.
A government spokesperson said: “Landlords must give six months’ notice for all but the most serious eviction cases – such as those involving domestic abuse – and we’ve taken action to prevent people getting into financial hardship by helping businesses to pay salaries, extending the furlough scheme and boosting the welfare safety net by over £9bn.”
“We keep these measures under constant review,” the spokesperson added.
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From March until September this year, the government introduced a ban on possession proceedings which meant courts could no longer schedule and hear eviction cases.
Since lifting the ban, the government has ordered bailiffs not to carry out evictions in areas under Tier 2 or Tier 3 levels of restrictions in England. It is not clear whether this order will apply to the entire country when England enters a month-long national lockdown on Thursday.
The government has also asked bailiffs not to evict tenants between 11 December 2020 and 11 January 2021 in what has been labelled a ‘Christmas truce’.
Six-month notice periods have also been introduced by the devolved government in Wales, where a two-week national lockdown began on Friday last week.
Both Scotland and Northern Ireland were not covered by the initial ban on possession proceedings introduced by the UK government.
Six-month notice periods for the majority of eviction cases have been introduced in Scotland, while 12-week notice periods have been introduced in Northern Ireland.
