MP urges action to prevent evictions
CITY MP Claudia Webbe has urged the government to take action to prevent an evictions and rental debt crisis.
Ms Webbe, who replaced the longstanding Keith Vaz as the Leicester East MP in December, has written to Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with three other Labour MPs.
The MPs outline the precarious position of UK renters in light of Covid-19, calling for rent cancellation and debt forgiveness for those who cannot afford to pay, along with an extension to the current eviction ban, which is due to lapse at the end of June, and the abolition of Section 21 evictions.
Last month, a survey by the New
Economics Foundation estimated 1.2 million renters had fallen through cracks in the current income support schemes to rely on universal credit payments.
Ms Webbe said: “Renters are one of the many groups that have been badly left behind and let down by this government.
“Policy decisions over the last 10 years has left UK renters with insecure tenancies, high rents and poor standards at the outbreak of coronavirus.
“The government’s handling of the crisis has only made things worse for them.
“Refusing to extend the evictions ban is a political choice. Refusing to help renters facing financial hardship is a political choice.”