Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will amend the The Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction) (England) Regulations 2021 to restore the definition of substantial rent arrears to mean 9 months’ arrears at the date on which the order for possession was granted and which pre-date 23 March 2020.

The Government has no plans to amend the definition of substantial rent arrears in the Public Health (Coronavirus) (Protection from Eviction) (England) Regulations 2021 at this present time, but the measures are being kept under review.

The Government believes that it is proportionate to widen the rent arrears exemption to the ban on the enforcement of residential evictions to cases where a court is satisfied that a possession order was granted on the grounds of rent arrears and where more than six months of rent is outstanding. This change is intended to balance the effect of the ongoing restrictions on landlords with the need to continue to protect tenants.

Landlords must provide tenants with notice and obtain a possession order from the courts before bailiffs will enforce an eviction. Landlords are required to provide six months’ notice in all but the most serious circumstances and the courts have put in place new rules and arrangements to respond to the pandemic. For the exemption from the ban on bailiff enforcement to apply, six full months of rent needs to be outstanding and the landlord must have a possession order granted under a rent arrears ground. Bailiffs have also been asked not to carry out evictions where someone is self-isolating or clinically extremely vulnerable.

These protections are on top of the unprecedented financial package the Government has put in place, including support for businesses to pay staff salaries and strengthening the welfare safety net with billions of pounds.