EVICTION LAW EXTENSION CALL

THE Scottish Government’s ban on evictions should not end at the same time as lockdown, MSP have heard.

Over the winter, landlords were not allowed to actively remove tenants from their properties in most circumstances, extending the policy already in place through emergency coronavirus laws.

Following an extension in

January, the policy may now end this month.

But Shelter Scotland said the measures should remain in place for some time to come, until the impact of lockdown on workers and their jobs is understood. The charity’s

Alison Watson

SENSE

director Alison Watson told the Scottish Parliament’s Covid-19 committee: “I think there’s a real sense for us of the worst is still to come for a lot of people who rent. “So I don’t think we can have the ending of eviction measures just when we come out of lockdown.”

month in 2020. This was up 3.3 per cent from January, while the UK average decline was 73.5 per cent over the year.

In Glasgow, footfall dropped by 71.6 per cent year-on-year.

David Lonsdale, SRC director, said: “Unsurprisingly, footfall in Scotland and across all shopping destinations crashed last month against the comparable pre-pandemic trading period of February last year, as shoppers rightly heeded Government instructions to stay at home.

“The Government’s prioritisation of retail as the likely first part of the economy to reopen is a welcome vote of confidence in its ability to do so safely and to help kick-start domestic consumption and the economy.”