‘Evictions ban is bad for victims of violence’

The decision to extend the ban on evictions in rented housing will compound the suffering of victims of domestic violence and antisocial behaviour says the National Residential Landlords Association.

As a result of the decision by the Government to prevent any evictions taking place until the end of August, landlords are powerless to take action against tenants committing domestic abuse or making the lives of fellow tenants or neighbours a misery.

According to research last year by the University of Bristol, 38 per cent of victims of domestic abuse live in private rented housing, a higher proportion than any other tenure. The charity Refuge, which runs the Domestic Violence Helpline, has said that there has been a 66 per cent increase in calls to the helpline during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In cases of domestic violence, landlords will often end the tenancy agreement and offer a fresh one, for the same property, to the victim independent of the abuser.

The National Residential Landlords Association argues that the ban goes against the spirit of a report by the then Victims Commissioner, Baroness Newlove, who warned last year that “victims of anti-social behaviour are being let down by police, local councils and housing providers.”

The NRLA is calling for the courts to deal urgently and swiftly with cases concerning anti-social behaviour and domestic violence when they are allowed to begin to hear repossession cases.

Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the NRLA, says: ““Extending the evictions ban is not without victims. It leaves landlords powerless to tackle the kind of behaviour that causes untold suffering and hardship for many communities and tenants alike.

“These cases must be given top priority by the courts once they start to deal with possession cases.”