Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what impact assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the reintroduction of bailiff enforcement from 1 June 2021 on homelessness.

Bailiffs are now able to enforce an eviction if a landlord has a valid warrant of possession. This reflects the gradual easing of national restrictions and ensures that landlords are able to exercise their right to justice. The bailiff measures were appropriate at the height of the pandemic to help control the spread of infection but these restrictions could only ever be temporary. They prevent landlords from repossessing properties when they have valid grounds to proceed.

The latest statistics for the first quarter of 2021 show that the volume of possession claims by landlords is down by 74% compared to the same quarter in 2020. This suggests that landlords are bringing significantly fewer claims for possession than before the pandemic. The reduction in claims means that fewer cases will proceed to the stage at which someone could be evicted, compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Where an eviction is scheduled, this will not be carried out by bailiffs if they are made aware that the tenant or anyone they live with has coronavirus symptoms, has tested positive for Covid-19, is waiting for a test result, or has been instructed by the NHS to self-isolate.

To mitigate against the accumulation of rent arrears and associated possession action, the government has put in place an unprecedented financial package. This includes support for businesses to pay staff salaries through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which has been extended until the end of September 2021, continued support for low income households with an extension of the £20 per week uplift in Universal Credit until the end of September, and maintaining Local Housing Allowance rates at the increased level applied in April 2020 in cash terms.

Tenants will further be protected through longer notice periods, as landlords are now required to serve four months' notice in all but the most serious cases, giving them more time to find alternative accommodation.

The latest homelessness statistics covering the period October - December 2020 show a 40% decrease in households owed a homelessness duty due to the end of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy compared with the same period in 2019.

Where a person is at risk of losing their home, local authorities have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent homelessness. In 2021/22 we are providing local authorities with £310 million to discharge their duties under the Act, a £47 million increase on previous years funding. This can be used to offer financial support for people to find a new home, to work with landlords to prevent evictions, or to provide temporary accommodation to ensure families have a roof over their head. This underlines the government's commitment to fully enforcing the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 by ensuring councils have the funding they need to prevent homelessness and help more people sooner.