The comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, on 11 November 2020.
This winter will be colder and potentially more dangerous than the first lockdown, with nowhere near the same protection for people sleeping rough.
It is disgraceful that the Government is turning its back on rough sleepers at a time when they need the most help.
The comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, on 7 November 2020.
I’m thrilled to bits. BidenHarris2020 have won. Joe Biden is a good man ready to be president elect. And a highly qualified mixed race woman of colour of african American and Indian-Tamil origin is the elected VP of USA. This is an emotional moment.
The letter written by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Secretary, to Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State, on 3 November 2020.
Dear Robert,
As we head into a second lockdown on Thursday, it is essential that renters and homeowners have re-assurance that they will be safe in their homes.
Will you re-instate the evictions ban, as well as the ban on repossessions to protect home-owners, and come forward with a credible plan to keep your promise that no-one will lose their home due to coronavirus?
The Government clearly accepts the need for additional protections when additional public health measures are in place. During the first national lockdown you imposed a ban on evictions, and when the previous evictions ban was lifted in September, you set out that “evictions will not be enforced in local lockdown areas and there will be a truce on enforcement over Christmas.”
Now that England is heading for a second national lockdown, will you ensure that renters across the country are protected from eviction?
Although landlords must now give six months’ notice for most eviction cases, this will not help those at most immediate risk of eviction, who were issued with eviction notices before 29 August and whose cases will be the first to go through the courts this winter. No-one should suffer lockdown with harassment or anti-social behaviour from neighbours, but any exemption must be framed to prevent homelessness.
As well immediate protection from evictions, the Government must come forward with a credible long-term plan to ensure that no-one loses their home as result of Coronavirus. Many renters have struggled to keep up with payments, through no fault of their own. Shelter has estimated that 322 000 private renters have fallen into arrears as a result of the pandemic. Will you raise Local Housing Allowance to average rents, and bring forward a plan to address the arrears crisis which is putting hundreds of thousands of renters at risk of losing their home?
During the first national lockdown, the ban prevented many evictions but there was a worrying rise in illegal evictions. The charity Safer Renting has estimated that illegal evictions are up 60% since March. What steps are you taking to ensure that renters are not illegally evicted over winter, and have access to advice and support where it is needed?
The Prime Minister announced a second national lockdown on the very same day as the ban on repossessions came to an end. The Financial Conduct Authority’s extension of the 6-month mortgage deferral is welcome but may be insufficient to protect mortgage holders from lenders who are concerned about the long-term viability of the mortgage. The mortgage interest loan scheme is not available until 9 months have passed, by which time many home-owners may have been assessed as unable to pay by their lender and at risk of repossession. This further puts home-owners at risk of turning to more unscrupulous lenders.
Will you now clarify the position for those borrowers who have already taken a six-month mortgage holiday, re-start the ban on repossessions and update the Support for Mortgage Interest Scheme to ensure it provides adequate support to homeowners?
I look forward to an urgent response.
Best wishes,
Thangam.
The comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Secretary, on 20 August 2020.
This raises serious questions about the Government’s strategy on rough sleeping.
This chaotic Government has no plan to avoid a self-made homelessness crisis this winter. They need to extend the ban on evictions, and come forward with a credible plan to keep their promise that no renter will lose their home because of Coronavirus.
The comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Minister, on 20 August 2020. The comments are in reference to a letter written by Labour Metro Mayors, the Mayor of London and council leaders from across England to the Housing Secretary calling for an urgent extension of the ban on evictions, which is due to end on Sunday 23rd August.
The situation couldn’t be more urgent. The Government has three days to avoid a cliff edge, with thousands of people at risk of eviction and homelessness. The Government can still change course. They must extend the ban, and come out with a credible plan to protect renters during this crisis.
The comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Secretary, on 20 August 2020.
These figures highlight the urgent need to extend the evictions ban, to avoid thousands more people being made homeless in the run up to winter.
Before Covid, we already had devastatingly high numbers in temporary accommodation as a direct result of 10 years of Conservative government, whose policies have pushed people into poverty.
The Government have known for months that an evictions crisis is looming. Not for the first time, it has been too slow to take action and we’re now facing a potential disaster if the ban is lifted with no plan for what comes next.
The comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Secretary, on 13 August 2020.
Everyone deserves a secure, affordable home, whether they own or rent. The UK is in recession for the first time in 11 years, and more people are likely to struggle with the cost of housing.
So far, the Government has prioritised tax breaks to landlords and second homeowners. It needs a plan to tackle the jobs, homelessness and housing crises.
The text of the speech made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Minister, on 14 July 2020.
With increased numbers of people forced into the benefits system because of the economic impact of the Coronavirus crisis and the Government’s failure to push forward emergency legislation to help people to keep their homes after the temporary ban on evictions ends in August, there will be many people who will be faced with looking for a new home in the private rented sector this Autumn. With this in mind, this landmark ruling must help to protect those people from discrimination by some rogue landlords refusing to take them on as tenants.
The Government needs to ensure that this finding will be properly enforced as an end to this discrimination and disseminated to all relevant landlords and organisations in order to protect people from losing their home.
Below is the text of the comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Secretary, on 10 July 2020.
These tragic deaths demonstrate the need to help homeless people off the streets during the pandemic.
Local councils worked hard to give people emergency accommodation as part of the government’s Everybody In policy. This was a good start, but the government has left out people who have found themselves on the streets since the start of lockdown.
The emergency measures of the last few months demonstrate we can end rough sleeping. We should grab this opportunity now – nobody should live, or die, on the streets.
Below is the text of the comments made by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Housing Secretary, on 9 July 2020.
It is unacceptable that the Chancellor tried to sneak out this huge bung to second home owners and landlords while millions of people are desperate for support. He should be targeting support to those who need it, not helping people invest in buy-to-let properties and holiday homes.
An unnecessary subsidy for second home-owners will only worsen the housing crisis by reducing the supply of homes overall.
We need a credible plan from Tory Ministers to build the homes our country needs and get people on to the housing ladder. We didn’t see that this week.