The Ministry of Justice recently announced that the ban on evictions will finish on August 23rd and the Citizens Advice has entered the fray widely condemning the action.

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However landlords and agents disagree strongly with the charity and want the judges to clear the backlog of re-possession cases quickly. The charity is urging judges to be extremely careful when dealing with automatic eviction for rental arrears, suggesting that it wants them to err on the side of defendant; as the CA warns there will be serious consequences when possession cases are resumed.

It claims that apparently there is an estimated 227,000 private tenants who have fallen into rental arrears since Covid-19 started. It says if the government fails to help tenants who have fallen into arrears because of the pandemic, and then judges will have to issue eviction orders making many thousands homeless.

Citizens Advice is now laughably claiming because of its poll of around 1,000 private tenants, it could predict that 174,000 renters’ have been already been threatened with eviction by their agents/landlords – figures that the private rented sector have widely condemned as being highly suspect.

Citizens Advice said that a “looming threat of eviction” was affecting tenant’s mental health wellbeing and claims that “Nearly a third of renters – 2.7m adults – feel more depressed and anxious about their housing situation.”

Shelter chief executive Polly Neate said: “We know people have been doing whatever they can to pay their rent and keep their home safe.

“Despite this, the minute the evictions ban lifts, the 230,000 already behind with their rent could be up for automatic eviction if they’ve built up eight weeks-worth of arrears. And judges will be powerless to help them. That’s more than the entire population of Portsmouth at risk of losing their homes. And let’s not forget: this pandemic is not over.”

However a trade body has countered the Shelter’s claims by saying that the figures were extravagantly high and far from perfect. Findings from its own surveys highlights that landlords are helping their tenants as much as possible; and in fact just fewer than 10% of tenants have failed to pay their rent.

A spokesperson said: “Throughout the lockdown, our surveys show that the vast majority of landlords have been doing all they can to keep people in their homes.

“Although no landlord can afford to absorb long-term losses of income, eviction is not, and should not be seen as the inevitable outcome of getting behind with rent payments.”

The spokesperson also pointed out that it was extremely important to separate those tenants who went into rental arrears prior to the pandemic and in many cases for several months, possibly intentional, from those who have been affected by the crisis and have only just started fall behind with their rent to pay their rent, during the past few months.

The spokesperson added: “When the courts re-start rehearing possession cases, the latter should be the priority along with instances where tenants are committing anti-social behaviour or domestic abuse’.

Many of the leading organisation across the housing sector have joined together to help support and advice both landlords and tenants if rental arrears arise due to the crisis.

A lettings agent body stated: “The organisations have launched guidance offering practical ways in which agents, landlords, and tenants can work to address arrears that might be building as a result of the pandemic. The guidance includes the need for all parties to flag up any problems that might be arising early on, along with advice about measures that can be taken such as agreeing rent deferrals, reductions, and suspensions. It provides support also for tenants applying for benefits where need be and points to resources available to help develop budgeting plans to ensure that tenants can cover the cost of essential items”.