Shelter response to the latest national lockdown and end of the ban on evictions by bailiffs on 11 January

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “We are now back in the same, if not worse, situation as last March. It is just too dangerous to start evicting people from their homes with Covid case numbers so high.

“You cannot follow the order to stay at home if you are evicted and facing homelessness. It’s not safe for people to attend court, nor is it safe for bailiffs to enter people’s homes and forcibly remove them. There aren’t enough genuinely affordable homes for people to move elsewhere, and councils will not be able to cope with an even longer queue of homeless households.

“Simply put, the government needs to stop evictions. We all know the country is facing some of the toughest weeks ahead, the Prime Minister has said so himself. Now is not the time for people to lose their homes – their only refuge from this raging storm.”

ENDS