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Homelessness could treble without ‘coronavirus home retention scheme’, campaigners tell government
The government is being urged to introduce a ‘coronavirus home retention scheme’ after a new analysis predicted that more than 45,000 households could be made homeless as a result of rent arrears this year.
The analysis, carried out by Generation Rent, estimates that 45,090 households will become homeless after being evicted from a private tenancy for rent arrears this year, compared with 15,030 in 2019.
This is based on the prediction, calculated via polling by the Resolution Foundation, that 13% of renters have fallen behind on their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Possession proceedings have currently been suspended in court until the end of August, meaning private renters cannot be evicted until this date.
At the start of lockdown, the government increased the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate, which determines how much housing benefit renters can receive to cover the cheapest third of homes in a local area.
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However, Generation Rent said many people are still excluded from this help, including students, individuals with no recourse to public funds, people with savings exceeding £16,000 and those whose rent remains higher than LHA rates.
It is calling on the government to introduce a new coronavirus home retention scheme, which would clear rent arrears not covered by the welfare system by allowing landlords to apply for funds covering up to 80% of the rent.
At the same time, it is asking the government to raise LHA rates and remove caps to cover median rents, alongside expanding the eligibility for Universal Credit.
Generation Rent estimates that this would cost the government £750m per quarter.
Alicia Kennedy, director of Generation Rent, said: “There is a rent debt crisis and renters are at risk of losing their homes. The government has already intervened to stop businesses from going under, and mortgage holders from losing their homes.
“They need to give the same protections to renters who still face losing their home or going bankrupt as a result of rent arrears.
“There are too many holes in the welfare system and our package of measures would ensure no renter faces destitution or becomes homeless due to COVID-19.
“But with the economy contracting, the government should not be expected to sustain rent levels set when the economy was strong. That’s why we propose that landlords would only be guaranteed up to 80% of their rent.”
Jon Sparkes, chief executive at Crisis, said: “It’s deeply concerning that renters are at risk of losing their homes because of the huge and sudden pressure coronavirus has exerted onto their lives.
“Right now, many people are facing agonising stress and anxiety because they cannot pay their rent as, through no fault of their own, their job has been lost or their hours have been cut.
“This is made all the worse when we know that many thousands of renters are at risk of homelessness once the suspension on evictions comes to an end next month.
“It’s vital that we now focus our attention on ensuring that everyone has a safe and affordable home during this outbreak and beyond. That’s why we need the government to immediately bring forward emergency homelessness legislation to suspend the benefit cap and put in place emergency legal protections so that no one is unfairly evicted because of the pandemic.”
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “The government has taken unprecedented action to support renters during the pandemic to ensure no one can be evicted from their home before 24 August.
“We have also put in place a support package to help prevent people getting into financial hardship or rent arrears which includes help for businesses to pay staff salaries, providing over £6.5 billion to strengthen the welfare safety-net and increasing LHA rates so that they cover the lowest 30% of market rents.
“We are working with the judiciary to ensure that, as far as practicable, arrangements - including rules - are in place to give appropriate protections for those who have been particularly affected by coronavirus when evictions proceedings start again.”
