Greater Manchester leaders call on government to extend eviction ban

The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) Lead for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure, City Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett, have written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Robert Jenrick, calling for an extension to the ban on evictions which is set to come to an end on Monday 11 January.

FULL LETTER:

Dear Secretary of State,

We are writing as Mayor of Greater Manchester and the Greater Manchester portfolio lead for Housing, Homelessness and Infrastructure. We welcome news that the Government is considering a further ban on evictions. We are fearful that the combination of reducing household incomes, gaps in the financial safety net, increasing rent arrears and removal of measures to protect and support tenants and landlords will drive a surge in evictions. At this crisis point for the NHS, we must do all we can to reduce the pressures in the system as a vital public health measure.

We already have more than 4,000 households in temporary accommodation, and are also accommodating and supporting more than 1,000 individuals through our A Bed Every Night scheme and the Government’s Everyone In approach who were rough sleeping or at imminent risk of rough sleeping but do not qualify for temporary accommodation. With such a limited supply of genuinely affordable housing, the homelessness system cannot take much more.

However, the latest survey by NRLA suggests 7% of private renters are in arrears due to Covid-19 – in Greater Manchester this equates to 16,800 households. There are limits to the ability of landlords to be flexible, based upon their own individual financial circumstances. In a public health crisis, tenants’ security in their own homes should not depend upon the depth of their landlord’s pockets.

The current stay on the serving of possession orders is due to be lifted this Monday 11 January, raising the prospect of bailiffs enforcing evictions from 25 January. Placing more people at risk of homelessness at this extraordinary point in the pandemic must be avoided, and we urge Government to:

reimpose a ban on evictions until at least the summer

provide direct financial support to protect tenants and mitigate the impacts of them building up rent arrears as a result of Covid-19 pandemic, as proposed by Shelter, the NRLA, Crisis and others.

Yours sincerely,

ANDY BURNHAM

MAYOR OF GREATER MANCHESTER

PAUL DENNETT

CITY MAYOR OF SALFORD, GMCA PORTFOLIO LEADER FOR HOUSING, HOMELESSNESS AND INFRASTRUCTURE