Responding to the Government’s announcement of an extension to the ban on the enforcement of most repossessions in the rental housing market in England, Ben Beadle, chief executive at the National Residential Landlords Association said: “The repossessions ban is a sticking plaster that will ultimately lead to more people losing their homes. It means tenants’ debts will continue to mount to the point where they have no hope of paying them off leading eventually to them having to leave their home. 

“Instead the Government should recognise the crisis facing many tenants and take immediate action to enable them to pay their debts as is happening in Scotland and Wales. The objective should be to sustain tenancies in the long term and not just the short term.”  

Mark Hayward, chief policy advisor for Propertymark, said of the announcement: “In light of the recent lockdown, it is no surprise the UK Government has made today’s announcement, yet over the past few weeks the UK Government has held off updates about evictions to the sector making it impossible for agents to respond and plan for the difficult winter months ahead.

“The whole of the private rented sector has been impacted but we must recognise that the courts already faced a backlog of cases prior to the pandemic.”