Last week saw the government extend the tenant eviction ban by a further four weeks at the 11th hour – crowning a week of U-turns for Boris and co. after the A-Levels controversy.
Perhaps the government was concerned that we’ll see a surge of evictions, resulting in a rise in homelessness.
However I struggle to see what extending the ban by another month will achieve.
Yes, it gives at-risk renters one extra month to plan for the future but – as Oli Sherlock, head of insurance at lettings platform Goodlord, said – all it really does is kick the can down the road.
The spectre of Covid-19 will still be present in a month’s time.
For unlucky landlords with tenants that aren’t paying, they are increasingly being expected to shoulder the burden of this crisis, and you wonder how sustainable that is.
When making this decision perhaps the government was looking at policy extensions overseas, as Canada’s CERB, a policy where citizens are being paid £1,158.50 a month, was also extended until September 27th.
You get the impression that governments are eyeing one another in developed nations when making pandemic-related decisions, to figure out how long they should leave interventionist policies in place.
I have to admit, I sympathise with them. It’s a difficult situation for our leaders, who can’t please everyone, and there was surely some heated debate in parliament before they opted to extend the ban by another month.
Haves and have-nots
The market is certainly in a strange place at the moment.
On one hand you’ve got tenants struggling to pay and landlords correspondingly taking mortgage payment holidays, and on the other you’ve got a market that’s clearly being fuelled by strong demand spurred on by the stamp duty holiday.
Last week I speculated that it could have too much of an impact, and the news that’s hit my inbox since has done nothing to quell that worry.
Apparently as many as 43% of young investors are now looking to buy, while Legal & General is even worrying there could be a lack of stock to match this demand.
This will ultimately result in a surge in house prices, widening the divide between the haves and the have-nots.
It’s been a funny year – and the government’s policy decisions related to the housing market aren’t making it any less strange.
Ryan Bembridge, Editor, PropertyWire
