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End of Eviction Moratorium
23 September 2020
Lead MP
Christopher Pincher
Debate Type
Ministerial Statement
Tags
Crime & Law EnforcementTaxationHousingParliamentary Procedure
Other Contributors: 36
At a Glance
Christopher Pincher raised concerns about end of eviction moratorium in the House of Commons. A government minister responded. Other MPs also contributed.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Government Statement
Crime & Law EnforcementTaxationHousingParliamentary Procedure
Government Statement
The Government congratulates Tim Farron on securing the urgent question regarding evictions and rental support during the pandemic. The government has taken unprecedented measures to protect renters, including a six-month ban on evictions, increased welfare safety nets, and £180 million in discretionary housing payments for local councils. New court arrangements prioritise serious cases like antisocial behaviour and fraud while requiring landlords to reactivate pre-August claims and disclose pandemic impacts on tenants. Notice periods are extended to six months and bailiffs are instructed not to enforce possession orders during lockdowns or over Christmas except in extreme circumstances.
Tim Farron
Lib Dem
Westmorland and Lonsdale
Question
Farron questions the government's decision to end the eviction moratorium, highlighting that 55,000 households are now at risk of losing their homes. He also notes that new civil procedure rules do not actually provide protection as judges cannot consider pandemic circumstances when making decisions. He calls for a further six-month moratorium on evictions and proposes amending section 8 evictions to give judges discretion over tenants' needs.
Minister reply
Pincher acknowledges the urgent measures introduced but emphasises that courts should have access to justice, prioritising egregious cases first. He points out that current figures show a significant reduction in eviction applications compared to last year due to government interventions.
Rob Butler
Con
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
Question
I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is about achieving an appropriate balance between the unprecedented protection that was rightly provided by this Government and supported by many landlords and the right of landlords, many of whom rely on rents for their livelihood, to protect their properties in the face of egregious behaviour?
Minister reply
I quite agree: it is about striking a fair balance. There are many landlords in this country, with the private rented sector accounting for about 21% of all houses available to live in, and many of those houses are owned by smaller landlords who need the rental income to pay their bills and survive. That is why, while extending the period of notice of eviction under section 21, we have reduced the period of notice to four weeks for the most serious matters, such as antisocial behaviour, domestic abuse and violence, fraud, and egregious rent arrears, which means arrears that predate the covid emergency. I think that is a fair balance, and I suggest the House should support it.
Bristol West
Question
I congratulate the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) on securing this urgent question, because it is scandalous that this Government are lifting the ban just as we are heading into a second wave of coronavirus... [full text provided]
Minister reply
The Government have honoured their promise to landlords and renters. That is why we introduced the most significant package of support in our history for people suffering from the emergency: £35 billion has helped over 9 million people on the furlough scheme. We have introduced the local housing allowance and increased it to the 30th percentile of local market rents, which will increase the annual income of those in receipt of it by some £600. The next steps accommodation programme is providing 3,000 new homes for those who have found themselves homeless, to make sure that they receive long-term help... [full text provided]
Craig Mackinlay
Con
Thurrock
Question
I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. There are 2.5 million landlords in this country. Most have just one property, often indebted, and for retired landlords it can form the backbone of their retirement income... [full text provided]
Minister reply
My hon. Friend makes a valid point. Landlords in our country provide a valuable and important service to the many people who rent. Demonising landlords, forcing the good ones out of business, will result only in fewer properties available to rent, and it may result in more of those properties being rented out for Airbnb or by less scrupulous landlords, so he is absolutely right... [full text provided]
David Linden
SNP
Glasgow East
Question
I congratulate the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) on securing the urgent question. We heard from colleagues about the urgency of the situation in England which I can see, as an observer in these proceedings, clearly needs urgent action... [full text provided]
Minister reply
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his contribution. As he knows, the Scottish legal system is different from the system in England. He knows that tenancy arrangements are different in Scotland from those here in England. He also knows that the Scottish courts began their actions some several weeks ago, whereas we maintained our stay until 21 September... [full text provided]
Clive Betts
Lab
Sheffield South East
Question
I have two simple asks of the Minister. First, does he recognise that there will be people in dire financial hardship who struggle and cannot pay their rent? I heard what he said about help for discretionary housing payments... [full text provided]
Minister reply
We always listen with great care to the Chairman of the Select Committee. I can confirm that we will keep all our arrangements, including our financial provisions, under review as the situation develops; it probably has some time to go before things begin to get better... [full text provided]
Theresa Villiers
Con
Chipping Barnet
Question
The 'Everybody In' programme has had unprecedented success in bringing rough sleepers off the streets. Will the Minister assure the House that the Government will do everything they can to build on that success, to engage with rough sleepers and to get them into long-term, stable accommodation, with support to grapple with the problems—substance addiction, mental health issues and others—that contribute to the causes of rough sleeping in the first place?
Minister reply
I am obliged to my right hon. Friend. The Government have disbursed £263 million on 3,000 homes for long-term homeless individuals through the 'next steps accommodation programme'. About 90% of those who were homeless at the start of the epidemic are now housed due to these measures. On 17 September, further funds worth £93 million were announced.
Rachael Maskell
Lab Co-op
York Central
Question
York has one of the highest levels of private rent in the country. So many people are falling into rent arrears, and we do not have any capacity in our social housing provision. In fact, the waiting list has gone up by 300—over 20%—over the last six months. How will the Minister ensure that local authorities such as mine have sufficient resources in their discretionary grant to support constituents and stop them becoming homeless?
Minister reply
We have disbursed £180 million in discretionary housing payments to local authorities and spent several billion pounds on supporting local authorities through this pandemic, which we will continue to review. The welfare safety net has been injected with an additional £9.3 billion by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Andrea Leadsom
Con
South Northamptonshire
Question
The Government took really excellent, strong steps to get rough sleepers off the streets during the first wave of the pandemic. My right hon. Friend might recall that, together with the noble Lord Bird from the other place—the founder of The Big Issue—I wrote to the Government with some suggestions on how we could continue to ensure that rough sleeping becomes a thing of the past. Now, of course, with the end of the moratorium on evictions fast approaching, the risk of people losing their work and then their home is increasing, so will my right hon. Friend agree to look at some of the excellent and practical proposals of the Ride Out Recession Alliance, started by the founders of The Big Issue, and consider taking some of them up to prevent joblessness becoming homelessness yet again?
Minister reply
We have extended the notice period that landlords are required to give their tenants to six months and announced no evictions between 11 December and 11 January in areas under lockdown.
John Spellar
Lab
Warley
Question
I find it incomprehensible that the Minister has not taken the opportunity to cut the Gordian knot and deal with section 21 and the need to protect decent, honest tenants who are facing the loss of not only their job but their home. There is another, smaller group of antisocial tenants who are ruining the lives of their neighbours with their behaviour and seem to think that at the moment they are untouchable. Will the Minister ensure that councils and the courts have the power and capacity—and are fully aware of that—to take action against antisocial tenants, and fast?
Minister reply
The statutory instrument laid on 29 August allows landlords to seek possession of properties in four weeks where there is antisocial behaviour, ensuring a balance between protecting tenants who fall into difficulty through no fault of their own and those tenants who abuse their rights.
Peter Gibson
Con
Kilmarnock and Loudoun
Question
It is right that the Government brought about a moratorium on evictions, but it is also right that landlords’ legal rights can once again be enforced. Will my right hon. Friend share with the House details of the level of unpaid rent in the private sector and what support he is giving to those individuals who rely on rental income as their only income?
Minister reply
About 89% of tenants are paying full rent, 4% have agreed rent holidays or reductions, and about 7% are in arrears. The statutory instrument allows landlords with egregious rents to move quickly to repossess their properties.
Chi Onwurah
Lab
Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West
Question
Newcastle citizens advice bureau reports a massive jump in housing queries, and no wonder—for most people, after their family’s health and wellbeing, their home is what is most important to them. The Minister is giving a lot of general reassurances, but can he say to me specifically that no one in Newcastle will face eviction, court action or bailiff action as a consequence of arrears due to covid-19?
Minister reply
Tenants who have not paid their rents for more than six months may receive notice from landlords. However, the notice period has been extended to protect those who are in difficulty through no fault of their own.
Laura Trott
Con
Sevenoaks
Question
I welcome the confirmation that as eviction hearings resume, cases of antisocial behaviour will be prioritised. However, to follow on from the question from the right hon. Member for Warley (John Spellar), will the Minister confirm that my constituents who are suffering from this blight will now have to wait only four weeks before being put out of their misery?
Minister reply
Landlords can move much more quickly now to seek justice and repossession of properties where there is antisocial behaviour.
Karen Buck
Lab
Leyland and South Ribble
Question
Housing advisers are reporting a surge in illegal evictions, and indeed, I have had experience of this myself. Do the Government recognise those figures? Do the Government collect data on illegal evictions? Are the Government expecting illegal evictions to continue to rise during the coming months?
Minister reply
The law is clear and landlords should adhere to it; about 1% of tenants who are in arrears have received notices to evict.
Bill Wiggin
Con
North Herefordshire
Question
I know that the Government are desperately trying to be fair, but the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and this is an absolutely clear example. My casework is full of landlords complaining about tenants who are working but have refused to pay their rent, and who are behaving antisocially—but is not antisocial behaviour rather a broad catch-all? What guidance will the Minister ensure that landlords and tenants get so that when they go to court, justice is done, as he wishes?
Minister reply
Advice for renters and landlords is published on gov.uk and kept under constant review.
Question
Urgent action is needed to strengthen support for tenants struggling to pay their rent. Has the Minister discussed calls to lift local housing allowance rates further with Department for Work and Pensions and Treasury Ministers?
Minister reply
We have increased the local housing allowance to the 30th percentile of local market rents, a move suggested by Crisis and Shelter. This intervention has raised tenants’ incomes by £600 annually.
Question
Can my right hon. Friend confirm that this Government have made available an extra £9.3 billion in welfare support to help renters pay their rent?
Minister reply
Yes, we have injected over £6.5 billion and now £9.3 billion into the welfare system since the crisis began.
Cat Smith
Lab
Lancaster and Wyre
Question
Young people are at risk of eviction due to receiving less local housing allowance. What discussions has the Minister had with youth organisations working with homeless young people?
Minister reply
My Department is in regular contact with stakeholders, including roundtables with various interlocutors, and we will continue to review policies. We have implemented measures like the job retention scheme and discretionary housing payments.
Question
What support can the Minister give to homeless veterans facing evictions?
Minister reply
Veterans receive priority treatment from local authorities with regard to housing. The minister commends Help 4 Homeless Veterans, a charity in South Yorkshire.
Fleur Anderson
Lab
Putney
Question
With the evictions ban ending last weekend and more restrictions announced yesterday, does the Minister agree that this is a perfect storm? Will he now end section 21 no-fault evictions?
Minister reply
The Government has increased welfare spending by £9.3 billion since the crisis began to help those in need of universal credit. The job retention scheme and furlough scheme have also been introduced.
Question
Can my right hon. Friend confirm that, for areas under local restrictions such as Sandwell, there will not be any evictions during those periods?
Minister reply
The Lord Chancellor has written to the bailiffs’ association to give clear direction about duties and responsibilities in lockdown areas.
Question
Does the Minister agree that increasing the local housing allowance, as asked by Welsh colleagues, to the 50th percentile is the most effective way to prevent evictions?
Minister reply
We have increased the LHA in response to calls from Crisis and Shelter, which will result in £600 of additional income for people in difficulty.
Question
Does the Minister agree that it is time now to lift the ban so that law-abiding citizens can return to a good quality of life without antisocial behaviour?
Minister reply
The police have powers under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Landlords and courts should act swiftly against irresponsible tenants.
Robbie Moore
Con
Keighley and Ilkley
Question
Can my right hon. Friend confirm that landlords will still be required to take into account coronavirus issues when starting eviction proceedings?
Minister reply
Landlords must provide clear information about tenants' status and the impact of the covid-19 emergency, with courts able to adjourn cases if rules are not followed.
Warrington North
Question
What assurances can the Minister give to constituents in the private rented sector anxious about losing their homes as we stand on the precipice of a second wave?
Minister reply
The Lord Chancellor has written to the bailiffs’ association, making clear that evictions should not take place where there is a lockdown and movement restrictions are in place.
Question
Can my right hon. Friend advise me on how we can best assist those who need specialist accommodation under the next steps accommodation programme?
Minister reply
The minister is not aware of the exact circumstances but will follow up if more details are provided.
Brighton Kemptown
Question
Ministers will know from my interventions and interests in this place that I am not an enemy of the landlord, but it seems to me that the balance here is totally wrong. Landlords and homeowners have been able to have mortgage deferrals, and they cannot be repossessed without the court looking at circumstances and the mortgage company discussing payment options. Why on earth does the Minister think it is acceptable for courts to have no discretion on section 8 notices on the grounds of rent arrears, and when will he fulfil his manifesto pledge to get rid of section 21 and introduce the renters’ reform Bill?
Minister reply
Given what the hon. Gentleman sometimes says in this place and on social media, one might be forgiven for thinking that he is the enemy of everybody some of the time. We will reform section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 when we bring forward the renters’ reform Bill, which we will do in due course.
Selaine Saxby
Con
North Devon
Question
It is crucial that we ensure that the most vulnerable in society are supported, especially throughout this pandemic. Is it not also the case that we should recognise that not every tenant is unable to pay their rent? Where necessary, should we not be supporting the landlords who rely on the income from their rental properties to live on or who have mortgages of their own to pay?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Tenants should continue to pay their rent where they can. Where they can but will not, we have changed the Coronavirus Act 2020 to make it easier for landlords to act. We think we have struck a fair balance between the rights of tenants and the rights of landlords, and I ask the House to support it.
Mitcham and Morden
Question
The end of the moratorium on eviction strikes fear in my heart, and it should strike fear in most Members’ hearts, because we know what is coming for so many families with children in our constituencies who have done nothing wrong, but are at the end of section 21 evictions. My local authority, the London Borough of Merton, has had 24 two-bedroom properties available since 1 April; that is less than one a week. It has had six three-bedroom properties available; that is one a month. The families who are going to be evicted over the next few months face years in temporary accommodation. What support is the Minister giving local councils to ensure that the temporary accommodation that these families find, which will be long term in anybody’s imagination, is fit for them and allows them to remain in their jobs, in their schools and close to their support networks?
Minister reply
We have invested a great deal of money in local authorities throughout this crisis, as the hon. Lady knows. I have described to her the accommodation programme, which invests £263 million in 3,000 units to house the long-term homeless. We have just announced an affordable homes programme, which will result in something like 180,000 affordable homes being built over the next cycle, about half of which will be for a discounted rent. I encourage her to take up her concerns with the Mayor of London to ensure that he is building out the right number of homes, which he has pledged—and has thus far failed—to do.
Andy Carter
Lab
Warrington South
Question
As the Minister will know, a number of new restrictions were introduced in my constituency earlier this week to try to bring down the spread of covid. I have received a number of emails from constituents concerned that they may be at risk of eviction. Can my right hon. Friend give assurances that no evictions will take place in areas such as Warrington where local restrictions are in force?
Minister reply
I commend my hon. Friend for campaigning on behalf of his constituents in Warrington, and I can give him that assurance. Where there is a local lockdown—where movement restrictions are in place—no evictions will take place.
Neil Coyle
Lab
Bermondsey and Old Southwark
Question
The Government are reintroducing evictions at the same time as scrapping employment support for millions of people, making it highly likely that we will see a very bleak rise in homelessness. Is the Minister aware that, due to covid regulations, many hostels and shelters cannot open to support homeless people this winter? Is it his intention to resource alternative provision or revise those regulations?
Minister reply
We have provided a great deal of resources for local authorities and charities to support people through this emergency. We will continue to keep those policies and programmes under review. If the hon. Gentleman has specific ideas that he wishes to suggest, I am happy to hear them.
Kevin Hollinrake
Con
Thirsk and Malton
Question
I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. It is absolutely right that we should be fair to tenants affected by the covid crisis, and the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), who secured the urgent question, is right to say that we might consider giving the courts discretion over the nature of arrears. But it also has to be right that we should be fair to the neighbours of those guilty of antisocial behaviour, fair to those affected by domestic abuse and fair to landlords who were affected by arrears pre-covid, and that should be the immediate focus of the courts’ attentions.
Minister reply
My hon. Friend, as ever, puts the point eloquently, and I am sure that Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service will have listened to him carefully.
Vicky Foxcroft
Lab
Lewisham North
Question
My constituent Nichola is a key worker. In May, her landlord served her with a section 21 no-fault eviction notice, giving her three months to move out. Housing benefit will cover only a one-bed flat for Nichola and her two teenage daughters. Letting agents demand an above-average income and the details of someone who earns more than £50,000 to guarantee the rent. What does the Minister suggest that people in Nichola’s position do to provide a suitable home for their families during the pandemic?
Minister reply
I have outlined to the House the range of measures that the Government have undertaken to support renters during this crisis. I do not know the specific circumstances that Nichola finds herself in, although the hon. Lady outlined some of them. If she cares to write to me with further information, I will give her a full and considered response.
Florence Eshalomi
Lab Co-op
Vauxhall and Camberwell Green
Question
Many renters in my constituency work in the leisure, hospitality and creative sectors. With the new restrictions coming in, they will continue to see a big shock to their income. The Prime Minister announced that the new restrictions may be in place for another six months, but they have not been matched by any support for renters. Will the Minister reintroduce the evictions memorandum while those restrictions are still in place, and scrap the benefit cap, which is impacting tenants and those who are falling into rent arrears?
Minister reply
Even with the benefit cap, from which there are right and proper exemptions, I think in London there is an equivalent income of £28,000 for a person in receipt of benefits. We keep our policies under constant review—the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Will Quince), is here listening to the points that the House is making—and of course if we do choose to make future changes, will bring those to the House.
Question
I have information on dozens and dozens of small-scale landlords—not property tycoons—who are now owed several thousand pounds in rent arrears, some due to genuine hardship, some as a result of tenants’ taking advantage of the current situation. This situation is now causing some landlords, particularly those with mortgages, severe hardship. I know that my right hon. Friend has said that the best option is to give the tenant as many options as possible to pay their rent, so will he look at the development of interest-free Government-guaranteed hardship loans for tenants to pay off their covid arrears?
Minister reply
As I said, we will keep our policies under review, to ensure that they take account of the state of the emergency at any given time. The steps that we have already taken, including mortgage holidays and the right to extend those mortgage holidays, also apply to landlords. I am happy to keep in touch with my hon. Friend as we continue to keep our policies under review, to make sure that he is apprised of the steps that we are taking to support landlords and tenants alike.
Shadow Comment
Tim Farron
Shadow Comment
The Liberal Democrats argue that the ban on evictions ended on Sunday, putting 55,000 households at immediate risk of losing their homes. This is compared to only 21,000 last year. Shelter estimates that an additional 322,000 private renters are in arrears due to the pandemic. Farron criticises the new civil procedure rules as providing no real protection and calls for a further six-month moratorium on evictions. He also proposes amending section 8 evictions to give judges discretion over tenants' needs and repealing section 21 no-fault evictions.
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