Tony Lloyd MP backs letter urging government to extend ban on residential evictions

Tony Lloyd MP

Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd is one of 50 national and local leaders to co-sign an open letter to Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, urging government to extend the ban on residential evictions until 30 April 2021.

Currently evictions will not be enforced until 11 January 2021 at the earliest, after being extended earlier this month.
 

Read more: New protections for renters over duration of national restrictionsPublished: 06 November 2020

Supporting similar calls from housing and homeless charities, the letter, sent by Unite the Union on behalf of a group of MPs, peers, council leaders, councillors, trade unions and housing charities, says the economic uncertainty caused by Covid-19 and the growing rate of unemployment is forcing huge numbers of private tenants into an ‘untenable financial situation’.

The letter to Mr Jenrick also requests that the government also increases Local Housing Allowance for a period of 12 months; and scrap the punitive five week wait for first time Universal Credit claimants.

Mr Lloyd said: “When the government rightly introduced a block on evictions, recognising that Covid was affecting family budgets, it was the right thing to do.

“The only thing that has changed since then is that things have got worse. It doesn’t make any sense to see families threatened to be out on the streets, when it would be our council who would have to pick up the responsibility for rehousing.

“As a result, I am calling on the government to protect people at this difficult time and continue with the ban on evictions until April 2021.”