Mayor warns of ‘ticking time bomb’ for renters

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has warned that many of London’s private renters are facing imminent homelessness, unless the Government acts now to properly protect them from eviction.

In March the Government announced the suspension of evictions for three months to stop renters losing their homes during the crisis. Despite this, landlords have still been able to issue eviction notices during the pandemic and Ministers have failed to heed calls to increase financial support, to allow renters affected by COVID-19 to pay their rent in full. This combined lack of support for renters and forward planning by the Government is expected to result in a sharp increase in the number of households being made homeless when court proceedings resume on 25 June. In the meantime, some unscrupulous landlords and letting agents are ignoring the ban now and threatening renters with eviction.

Despite having no formal powers over the private rented sector, the Mayor is doing everything he can to stand up for London’s private renters, and is now rolling out training for borough housing and Trading Standards teams in how to deal with unlawful behaviour by rogue operators. Training is being delivered by Safer Renting, a specialist advice, advocacy and support organisation for private renters, and covers rent-to-rent scams, sub-tenancies, harassment and illegal evictions– as well as longer-term solutions for tackling rogue landlord and letting agents.

The Mayor’s team is also working with the Metropolitan Police to help officers better respond to illegal eviction calls, meaning renters will be better protected and have their rights upheld. Police officers will use the Mayor’s ‘Report a Rogue Landlord or Agent’ tool to log any incidents they attend, so that borough teams can follow up with the tenant and start enforcement action against the landlord if appropriate.

Almost a third of Londoners rent privately and COVID-19 has underlined the precariousness of their situation. Many are on lower incomes, have little or no savings and may have had to reduce or stop work due to the pandemic. This means that many households may be in a position where they cannot afford to pay their rent.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “Many renters are just one pay cheque away from homelessness. It’s completely unacceptable that London renters should be facing a ticking timebomb where they could lose their home.

“The Government took the required urgent action at the end of March to suspend eviction proceedings for 90 days but has then wasted the window of opportunity this presented to shore up protections for private renters. Suggestions that landlords and their tenants agree ‘affordable repayment plans’ between themselves is totally unfair, and unrealistic in many cases.

“Ministers still have an opportunity to steer us away from this cliff edge and avoid inflicting needless suffering on renters across the country, but they must act now. This crisis has exposed the poorly regulated state of the rental market which is why I’ll continue fighting for the rights of London renters in every way I can, including by giving boroughs and the Met the training and knowledge they need to protect tenants’ rights.”

In April the Mayor set out his proposal for a ‘Triple Lock’ protection for renters, calling on the Government to:

• Immediately increase welfare support for renters, suspend the Benefit Cap, restore Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates to median market rents, and cover any shortfall in rental payments of private tenants unable to pay them due to COVID-19 – including those with no recourse to public funds. This could be achieved by setting aside LHA rates for those who are affected by COVID-19.

• Once the temporary suspension of court proceedings is lifted on 25 June, prevent private landlords from evicting tenants who have accrued arrears as a result of COVID-19. This could be achieved by making section 8 (the arrears ground for eviction) discretionary in court proceedings.

• Scrap so-called ‘no fault’ section 21 evictions. This would prevent landlords evicting tenants affected by COVID-19 using this route as an alternative to the section 8 method.

These measures would protect renters by giving them security of tenure for the duration of the crisis and would protect public health during the pandemic by making it easier for non-essential workers to decide to stay at home rather than going out to work in order to pay their rent.

Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development said: “Council representatives and police officers are on the frontline of the fight against illegal evictions. It is essential they have the knowledge they need to combat rogue landlords and protect tenants’ rights, so we are pleased to be able to support them by offering this training.

“The Mayor and I are doing everything we can to help London’s 3 million private renters and will continue to lobby the Government to give him the powers he needs to deliver a fairer private rented sector. This must include the powers he has been calling for to introduce rent control.”

Caitlin Wilkinson, Policy Manager at Generation Rent, said: “Despite the Government’s ban on evictions, we’ve heard from renters experiencing harassment and threats from their landlords. Some are even coming home to find the locks have changed, in the middle of the pandemic.

“Too often, police officers are unaware that this behaviour is illegal. It is essential that police officers receive the training necessary to keep renters safe in their homes. Secure housing is essential in controlling the spread of coronavirus, and landlords who are breaking the law must be brought to justice.”

Ben Reeve-Lewis, Strategic Case Manager at Southwark based charity Safer Renting who has been developing the training said: “For many facing illegal eviction the police are the first people they think to call. Its great now that officers will have the tools to help them deal with problems on the doorstep swiftly”.

“With this training, an officer called to a landlord/tenant dispute can feel confident in advising the parties and referring to the local authority, using the special portal on the Mayor’s rogue landlord checker, that ensures allegations of harassment and illegal eviction go directly to the relevant department in the relevant authority”