Potential evictions over rent arrears

Government and many landlords have put in place temporary measures to help tenants keep their homes in the current crisis.

Sustaining people’s incomes through the furlough scheme and calling a halt to evictions have created a temporary respite. But what

happens when those temporary measures end?

The Chartered Institute of Housing has published proposals aimed at avoiding a potentially disastrous spike in evictions once the current protections end.

Working with barrister Liz Davies, CIH has developed a detailed set of proposals to avoid a crisis that could leave thousands homeless and cost landlords and local authorities millions.

For the eight million households who are tenants of private or social landlords, a key part of the hardship and suffering during the crisis has been the struggle to pay their rent and worrying if they will be able to keep their home.

If our society and the economy are to recover from the crisis, it is vital that these fears are allayed quickly and thoroughly.

We do not start from a good place. Local authorities’ and social landlords’ resources for dealing with homelessness were stretched before the epidemic and could be overwhelmed if there is a sudden growth in evictions due to rent arrears.”

The hard facts

○ Of 5.6 million workers at high risk of losing their jobs because of the crisis, more than 1.2 million are private tenants.

○ Around 2.6 million private tenants have already missed a rent payment during the crisis.

○ Around a third of the ‘key workers’ who have kept services and supplies running earn less than £10 per hour.

Many live in households dependent on two incomes to pay the rent, and where partners may have lost their jobs.

James Prestwich CIH director of policy