1,632 Barnet and Camden households needed help from councils to avoid homelessness in first six months of national outbreak

1,073 households in Barnet and 559 households in Camden facing homelessness were owed help by the councils in the first six months of the national COVID-19 outbreak, the latest Government data has shown. Local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM, has warned that this figure is likely to be the “tip of the iceberg” when it comes to the number of Londoners facing the prospect of losing their homes in the spring.

Last week, the Government announced a further extension to the residential evictions ban up until the end of March. As part of the terms of their previous extension, implemented last month, Ministers introduced a loophole which allows landlords to evict tenants if they have built up six months or more of rent arrears.

A study published by Citizens Advice in January, found that 1 in 7 London tenants had started to fall into rent arrears.

Mr Dismore is calling for the Government to end their “stop and start” approach to the current evictions ban and implement longer-term measures to help struggling renters through the pandemic.

He is backing recommendations made by the Mayor for the Government to provide grants to support tenants to clear their rent arrears and to increase Local Housing Allowance to cover average rents in an area.

The London Assembly Member is also highlighting the need for the Government to get on with banning section 21 or ‘no fault’ evictions, which allows landlords to eject tenants from a property without having to provide a reason. Ministers originally pledged to outlaw this type of eviction in April 2019.

Under current COVID-19 regulations, landlords must now provide six months’ notice to tenants when issuing a section 21 eviction notice. Government figures reveal that during the six-month period between April and September 2020, 750 of these notices were been handed out to households in the capital.

Local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM, said:

“No one should face losing their home in the middle of a pandemic.

“These figures are likely to be just the tip of the iceberg, offering an alarming snapshot of the deluge of evictions that could be carried out in the community when the current ban ends at the end of March.

“The Government’s “stop and start” approach to the evictions ban is storing up huge problems in the near future. We must see a range of longer-term measures put in place to help struggling renters through this crisis.

“This would include providing grants to tenants to help them clear their rent arrears, increasing Local Housing Allowance to cover average rents and for Ministers to finally put an end to section 21 evictions, almost two years on from their original pledge to do so”.

ENDS

Notes

  • Separate quarterly Government datasets, covering the periods of April to June 2020 and July to September 2020, show that in total, 1,073 households in Barnet and 559 households in Camden were owed a homelessness prevention duty by their council over these six months. A prevention duty applies when a local authority is satisfied that an applicant is threatened with homelessness and eligible for assistance;
  • Last week, the Government announced a further extension to the residential evictions ban up until the end of March. As part of the terms of their previous extension, implemented last month, Ministers introduced a loophole which allows landlords to evict tenants if they have built up six months or more of rent arrears;
  • The Mayor has called for the Government to provide grants to support tenants to clear their rent arrears, to end section 21 evictions and to increase Local Housing Allowance to cover average rents in an area;
  • More information about the Government’s pledge to end section 21 evictions from April 2019, can be found here;
  • Under current COVID-19 regulations, landlords must provide six months’ notice to tenants when issuing a section 21 eviction notice;
  • Government figures from two separate quarterly Government datasets, covering the periods of April to June 2020 and July to September 2020, reveal that over these six months, 750 of these notices have been handed out to households in the capital.
  • Andrew Dismore AM is the London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden.
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