Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to provide one-off funding of £270 million to (a) support and (b) extend tenancies for people at risk of homelessness due to eviction during the covid-19 outbreak.

The UK Government has provided an unprecedented package of financial support for tenants, and we will continue to monitor closely the impacts of Covid19 for renters. This included increasing the local housing allowance rate to the 30th percentile, providing nearly £1bn of additional support for private renters claiming Universal Credit or Housing Benefit in 2020/21.

We also introduced a stay on possession proceedings to ensure no one needed to be concerned about the threat of eviction over the summer. Now that courts are hearing possession hearings again, in addition to steps led by the Judiciary to prioritise the most serious cases, the Government has increased notice periods to six months in all but the most egregious cases. This means that renters now served notice can stay in their homes over winter, with more time to find alternative support or accommodation. There will also be no enforcement of evictions in areas of local lockdown or over the Christmas period in England and Wales.