Private tenants will not be evicted from their homes for at least three months even if struggling with their rent under emergency coronavirus legislation announced by the housing secretary.

Robert Jenrick said new laws would ban landlords in England and Wales from evicting tenants, following days of pressure by campaigners and tenants’ unions who had warned that tens of thousands of households could be made homeless because they could not afford rent.

He said: “Emergency legislation will be taken forward as an urgent priority so that landlords will not be able to start proceedings to evict tenants for at least a three-month period.”



If that legislation goes through soon, renters will be able to rest easy until the middle of June, but the reprieve may only defer difficulties with landlords and evictions. After that point “landlords and tenants will be expected to work together to establish an affordable repayment plan, taking into account tenants’ individual circumstances”, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said.

There will be new government guidance asking landlords “to show compassion” and allow affected tenants to remain in their homes “wherever possible”.

The London Renters Union (LRU) said the move did not go far enough, considering it came a day after Tuesday’s announcement of a mortgage holiday for property owners.

“If landlords can get a payment holiday, why won’t the government also implement a suspension of rent payments?” said Amina Gichinga, an LRU spokesperson. “We must suspend rents, not defer them. Otherwise the end of the coronavirus crisis could mean the beginning of an evictions crisis.”

The moves followed confirmation from social landlords that they would not evict tenants who were struggling with payments. Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said: “No one should be evicted because of the coronavirus. We are confident that no housing association will do this, and want anyone affected by the outbreak to be reassured they will not be evicted.”

As the virus spread over recent weeks, the tenants and community union Acorn, which operates in several UK cities, gathered 15,000 signatures for a petition demanding Boris Johnson exercise emergency powers to protect renters. In 2017-18, the private rented sector accounted for 4.5 million or 19% of households in England. It has doubled in size since 2002.

Polly Neate, the chief executive of Shelter, which campaigned for the suspension, said it would “come as a great relief to many people”.

“Without this decisive action, tens of thousands of renters would have been faced with eviction in the coming months, while potentially trying to isolate and protect themselves and others.”

Quick guide What to do if you have coronavirus symptoms in the UK Show Hide Symptoms are defined by the NHS as either: a high temperature - you feel hot to touch on your chest or back

a new continuous cough - this means you've started coughing repeatedly NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days.

If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home. After 14 days, anyone you live with who does not have symptoms can return to their normal routine. But, if anyone in your home gets symptoms, they should stay at home for 7 days from the day their symptoms start. Even if it means they're at home for longer than 14 days. If you live with someone who is 70 or over, has a long-term condition, is pregnant or has a weakened immune system, try to find somewhere else for them to stay for 14 days. If you have to stay at home together, try to keep away from each other as much as possible. After 7 days, if you no longer have a high temperature you can return to your normal routine. If you still have a high temperature, stay at home until your temperature returns to normal. If you still have a cough after 7 days, but your temperature is normal, you do not need to continue staying at home. A cough can last for several weeks after the infection has gone.

Staying at home means you should: not go to work, school or public areas

not use public transport or taxis

not have visitors, such as friends and family, in your home

not go out to buy food or collect medicine – order them by phone or online, or ask someone else to drop them off at your home You can use your garden, if you have one. You can also leave the house to exercise – but stay at least 2 metres away from other people. If you have symptoms of coronavirus, use the NHS 111 coronavirus service to find out what to do. Source: NHS England on 23 March 2020

The charity reported that landlords had been threatening to evict tenants, including in at least one case an NHS worker, because they were scared of catching coronavirus from them.

It said that it had been contacted by tenants facing eviction or already evicted because of the pandemic and warned that more than 50,000 households could have been turfed out of their homes in the next six months without action.

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Shelter said it had been contacted by one renter who worked at an NHS hospital, who said their landlord wanted to evict them and the other tenants in the property, some of whom also worked at the hospital, because he feared contracting the virus from them. The landlord reportedly added that unless a cure was found in the next few weeks, they would have to leave.



Another renter was illegally evicted while on holiday in Italy without notice after the landlord said they were worried they would catch the virus. The tenant offered to self-isolate for 14 days elsewhere before returning to the property, but the landlord still refused.

The Residential Landlords Association and the National Landlords Association welcomed Jenrick’s measures with a caveat. They said: “There does need to be some flexibility … such as with dealing with a tenant engaging in antisocial behaviour. This could cause misery for fellow tenants or neighbours, especially when they are going to be spending a lot of time together.”

It also called for the suspension of routine inspections of properties and “a temporary halt on enforcement action where landlords are unable to fulfil certain required obligations because of the health risk posed to them, tenants and contractors”.