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Covid-19: Ministers urged to ban reckless evictions over rent arrears
By Sinead Wilson
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Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is being urged to ban reckless evictions of people in long term rent arrears in England as a result of the pandemic.
A group of MPs are calling for urgent action to prevent a new surge in homelessness in the coming weeks.
They say thousands of renters with six months of debts risk ending up on the streets - despite a £180m support fund.
Ministers have extended a ban on evictions several times - the current one is due to run out on 31 March.
Covid-19: Ministers urged to ban reckless evictions over rent arrears bbc.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bbc.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
A SURGE in homelessness can only be stopped by the government cancelling private-sector rent arrears which have built up during the pandemic, ministers were warned yesterday.
Campaigners and politicians demanded the debt relief in reaction to Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick’s extension on Saturday of a ban on bailiff-enforced evictions in England to the end of March.
Previous bans allowed evictions for people who had nine months of rent arrears, but excluded arrears built up by people who had lost their jobs since March 2020.
But following lobbying by landlord groups Tory ministers changed the rules during the January lockdown so that bailiffs can evict anyone who has been unable to pay rent for six months.