Landlords call for end to coronavirus eviction ban that stops people being made homeless

Housing campaigners say benefits system must be made ready first

Landlord groups are calling for an end to a ban on evictions brought in to stop people being made homeless during the coronavirus pandemic.

Chris Norris, director of policy at the National Residential Landlords Association, told a parliamentary committee hearing that work on some eviction cases should be able to proceed now.

The government has put a stop to court work on evictions in England and Wales as a temporary measure, and extended the blanket ban until the end of August to give people security.

But Mr Norris told MPs on Monday: "We don't think it should be extended. In fact I think at the moment there are certain cases that we could be getting some of the case management dealt with now.

"When we've got those cases that have got absolutely nothing to do with the Covid crisis, those cases where in many many instances a possession order was actually granted prior to lockdown - we don't see any reason why we couldn't start opening up the system so that they could be progressed now as lockdown is being lifted."

Speaking at the same hearing of the housing and local government committee, campaigners said the benefits and legal system needed to be made fit-for-purpose before the eviction ban ended.

"While the immediate public health effects of coronavirus is subsiding to a degree, the economic impact is only just starting to be felt. So if nothing else is put in place what you're going to get is huge numbers of tenants who are unable to pay their rent and will lose their homes as a result," said Caitlin Wilkinson, policy manager at Generation Rent.

She added that the government should follow through on a promise to "permanently end" unfair no-fault evictions, that tenants should be protecter from being evicted for rent arrears, and that judges should be given the power to protect tenants for possession cases that are already in the system.

Ruth Ehrlich, policy officer at housing charity Shelter said: "Rather than extend the ban indefinitely it would be preferable for government to address the issues that renters are facing."

She added: "Shelter is not calling for rent forgiveness but rather for a welfare benefit system that ensures people can cover the cost of their rent."

The government has already said it will improve the coverage of Local Housing Allowance, the main form of housing benefit, and restore it to the level it was cut to in the early months of the 2010 coalition government.

This will mean housing benefit claims can cover the bottom one third of properties in a local area: when the policy was introduced in 2008 it covered the bottom 50 per cent, but successive cuts dramatically reduced its coverage with capping and freezes.

Ms Ehrlich said while Shelter "welcomed the uplift to 30 percentile for local housing allowance" the government should go further.

She said various surveys of the impact of coronavirus had shown that between 1 in 10 and in 20 renters are now in arrears, compared to a normal rate of 1 in 50 - with an estimated total of over a million and the total expected to increase fast when the furlough scheme ends later in the year.