The private rented sector is up in arms with the government’s eleventh hour U-turn when it announced the eviction ban is now extended by a further four weeks and has also told landlords to give the majority of tenants a full six months’ notice.

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The government claims that these measures have been brought in to protect vulnerable tenants who have been badly affected by the pandemic, so they will not be evicted over the winter months.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s aim was to stop a wave of evictions around Christmas which would cause a “homelessness crisis”.

However many renters are undergoing financial hardship but the government is simply ignoring the plight of the landlords who are not being paid rent; they are still having to ‘house’ tenants who should have been evicted prior to the lockdown.

A spokesperson for a trade body, commented: “A blanket extension is unacceptable, especially so close to the deadline.

“An enormous amount of work as gone into finding a balance between supporting tenants who have been affected by the pandemic and preventing significant financial harm to landlords, in accordance with the government’s promise. This announcement satisfies no-one.

“Landlords have been left powerless in exercising their legal right to deal with significant arrears unrelated to Covid-19, antisocial behaviour and extremely disruptive tenants who make life miserable for their neighbours and housemates.

“Private landlords cannot be expected to foot the bill for government failure. There must now be a plan to support households to pay their bills and to compensate landlords fully for their lost income.

“Only this will give both tenants and landlords security and reduce the risk of widespread tenancy failure.”