Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has recently announced that renters affected by coronavirus will continue to be protected after the Government extended the ban on evictions for another four weeks, meaning in total no legal evictions will have taken place for six months.
The Government also intends to give tenants greater protection from eviction over the winter by requiring landlords to provide tenants with six months’ notice in all cases raising other serious issues such as those involving anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse perpetrators, until at least the end of March.The Government is expected to keep these measures under review with decisions guided by the latest public health advice.
In a statement, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP said, “I know this year has been challenging and all of us are still living with the effects of Covid-19. That is why today I am announcing a further 4 week ban on evictions, meaning no renters will have been evicted for six months.I am also increasing protections for renters, six-month notice periods must be given to tenants, supporting renters over winter.
“However, it is right that the most egregious cases, for example those involving anti-social behaviour or domestic abuse perpetrators, begin to be heard in court again; and so, when courts reopen, landlords will once again be able to progress these priority cases.”
When courts do resume eviction hearings, they will carefully prioritise the most egregious cases, ensuring landlords are able to progress the most serious cases, such as those involving anti-social behaviour and other crimes, as well as where landlords have not received rent for over a year and would otherwise face unmanageable debts.
According to independent research, 87% of tenants have continued to pay full rent since the start of the pandemic, with a further 8% agreeing reduced fees with their landlords.
In the meantime, the housing secretary, is also standing by plans to bring an algorithm into the heart of a new planning system. He had earlier also launched a plan to build more than 300,000 homes a year, giving councils compulsory targets and creating local zones in which development is automatically approved.The plan will use an algorithm to produce targets for every area in England, based on its “relative affordability” and the extent of development locally.
