Karl Turner – 2020 Comments on Eviction Ban

The comments made by Karl Turner, the Shadow Minister for Legal Aid, said on 21 August 2020.

It is utterly jaw-dropping that the government have sat on their hands until just days before a self-made homelessness crisis. Pushing ahead with the end of the evictions ban risks unleashing a tsunami of cases which could leave tens of thousands of people homeless and overwhelm our courts.

If the government do not change course and act now, the complete absence of legal advice in huge swathes of the country will leave tenants at risk of homelessness.

Ministers’ promises that the courts will take account of the impact of Covid on tenants amount to nothing, as despite having 5 months to do so, they have not changed the law on s.21 or ground 8, so judges will have no choice but to evict in the middle of a global pandemic, regardless of the circumstances.