Homelessness (No. 2)

That this House notes the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government's promise on 18 March 2020 that no renter who has lost income due to Coronavirus will be forced out of their home; further notes the end of the moratorium on evictions on 20 September 2020; is concerned that 55,000 private tenants were served eviction notices between March and August 2020, that 320,000 private tenants have fallen into arrears since March whilst two-thirds of private tenants do not have any savings, and that the National Landlord’s Association reports £440 million is owed in unpaid rent; further notes that the 3,022 orders for possession recorded by the Ministry of Justice between April and June masks the extent of this crisis because most Section 21 evictions do not proceed to court; believes the end of the furlough scheme on 31 October 2020 will increase the number of private renters facing eviction and result in a significant upsurge of homelessness, with catastrophic consequences for families in the run-up to Christmas; and calls on the Government to avert this impending crisis by bringing forwards the Renters’ Reform Bill to end Section 21 no fault evictions, enabling judicial discretion over Section 8 repossession hearings to account for the impact of covid-19, providing grants or low-interest loans to cover rent arrears, and setting Local Housing Allowance at the 50th percentile.