The time is now. There is now just one week remaining until the eviction ban lifts in England – the end of a Covid-19 safety net that has stood between those hit hard financially by the pandemic and homelessness.
The Ride Out Recession Alliance is making one last push to change ministers’ minds to prevent a tidal wave of evictions as the financial fallout of the Covid-19 crisis continues.
GET IN TOUCH: The UK has plunged into its worst recession on record, with an employment crisis only just beginning.
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We know that it has been a tricky ask – Parliament has been on summer recess since July 22 – but we also know that the measures put in by the government have been the only protection from homelessness for thousands of people who have seen their income slashed by the pandemic.
There has also been action in other parts of the UK, underlining the urgency of the situation. The Welsh Government had already announced that tenants will be given six months’ notice of eviction before their Scottish counterparts signalled their intentions last week.
The eviction ban was due to end on September 30 in Scotland but First Minister Nicola Sturgeon insisted that her government wanted to extend the ban until March, subject to a Holyrood vote. It was a move that was hailed by campaigners, with Shelter Scotland calling the news “a big win for our supporters and us” and tenants’ union Living Rent also tweeting their joy and urging more help for renters who have fallen into arrears.