Sadiq Khan is certainly not popular with many London landlords, and it is easy to see why. The Mayor of London has again repeated his demand and the government introduces a ‘triple lock’ of protection by:
- Increasing welfare benefits to cover any shortfall in rental payments
- Preventing private landlords from serving Section 8 (arrears) notices for tenants affected by COVID-19
- Scrapping so-called ‘no fault’ Section 21 evictions
Mr Khan said he is ‘deeply concerned’ by the eviction ban coming to an end in August and in his demand to the government he said, “The capital also faces the impending prospect of a tsunami of evictions. In a matter of weeks, local authority housing services could be overwhelmed, and we could see a flood of people being forced onto the streets.
“I, therefore, urge you to implement the full range of measures that I have set out so that no renter accrues arrears or faces the threat of eviction or homelessness as a result of ongoing impacts of COVID-19. Until they are enacted, the ban on evictions must remain in place.”
The Conservative government disagrees with all three points and most landlords disagree with the last two. It remains to be seen whether Mr. Khan can influence what happens in London – we hope not, but never underestimate politicians.
