Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2021

Lord Carrington Excerpts

Thursday 18th March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Carrington (CB) [V]]

My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. I also congratulate the noble and learned Lord, Lord Etherton, on his thoughtful maiden speech.

Every coin has two sides but, in respect of this measure, one side has been ignored and the other not properly thought through. Clearly, private renters have been hard hit, but this measure ignores the likely build-up of arrears by renters, giving rise to eventual court cases and repossessions. This will result in serious damage to their credit score and ability to access housing. It also does not consider the position of those renters who can afford to pay but hide behind these measures and decide not to pay their landlords.

The National Residential Landlords Association, representing landlords who account for 20% of UK households, reports that 60% of its members have lost rental income. We are talking about a sector in which 94% of the properties are owned by individuals who, in the main, own only one property and regard it as their pension. This is not about the Cadogan or Grosvenor estates, and these landlords continue to have financial obligations regarding their properties. This is not healthy for either side, but to regard landlords as bankers to their tenants is totally inappropriate.

One solution to avoid that situation is for the Government to provide tenant hardship loans along the lines of the schemes in Scotland and Wales, supported by a range of bodies such as the charity StepChange, Citizens Advice and the Resolution Foundation. Loans would be interest free, government guaranteed and paid directly to the landlord, with repayment due as the affected tenant recovers. It would enable the orderly recovery of the renter and would protect his credit rating. The landlord would be able to continue to invest in his property and the courts would be free from a deluge of cases leading to hardship for all concerned.