Today in politics: Evictions ban and short term lets

Today we look at the ongoing debate around the end of the evictions ban and look at new figures suggesting landlords are moving away from short term lets.

Opposition MPs speak out on end of evictions ban

Former Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell MP, has called for the ban on evictions to be extended by a year and a cancelling of rent arrears caused by COVID-19.

He has said: “Many people are becoming desperately worried that they will now face evictions.

“Many cannot rely upon the goodwill of their landlords to prevent them losing their homes. That’s why it is premature to end the ban on evictions, especially with so many jobs being lost and incomes drying up.”

It is also being reported that 21 MPs from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the DUP have signed a letter to the government calling on it to guarantee funding for “at least a year” to any council that needs support to keep rough sleepers sheltered following concerns about the impact of the eviction ban being lifted next week.

They also call for an urgent law to give any homeless person the right to emergency accommodation in the next 12 months, for the suspension of restrictions on migrants accessing Universal Credit and for the Vagrancy Act be scrapped which makes it illegal to "beg or gather alms" in a public place.

Lib Dem leadership candidate Layla Moran, who organised the letter, has said: “Ministers were right to listen and take urgent action to end rough sleeping during the pandemic, but this cannot be a temporary measure. 

“The Government must do more. It isn't good enough to defeat the coronavirus pandemic and then allow the rough sleeping pandemic to return.”

London landlords shifting from short to long-term lets

Hamptons has published its latest lettings index for July showing more than a third of properties in London (37%) previously advertised as short lets are now being offered as long-term rented accommodation.

The report also said:

• On average changing a property from being a short term to a longer-term let means a 35% reduction in rent, equating to £1,952 a month less.
• The gap between what’s happening in the rental market in Inner London compared with the rest of the country has widened. Rents in Great Britain as a whole remained flat in July.  Last month, the average cost of a newly let property in Great Britain fell slightly to £1,001 pcm, 0.1% lower than the same month last year.  However this is a slight change on the 0.7% year-on-year fall recorded in June.
• Once again, rental growth is being dragged down by rent falls in London, the South East and East of England.  Rents in London fell -4.2% year-on-year in July, driven by a -8.4% decrease in inner London.  The increase in the number of short lets moving to the long-term rental market in inner London drove a 42% annual increase in stock levels and consequently lead to a record fall in rents.
• While in outer London, rents fell -2.9% compared with the same period last year, a slight improvement from the -3.6% fall recorded the previous month.
• However outside of London and its immediate neighbouring regions, rents continued to rise.  While affordability pressures weigh on rental markets across the country, they are also affected by a lack of stock. The South West saw the biggest rental increase – average rents here rose 2.8% year-on-year in July.  The Midlands followed with 2.3% annual rental growth.