The Government has today (Sept 11) announced that it is making £180m available for local authorities in order to support vulnerable renters who have been negatively affected by Covid-19.
The Discretionary Housing Payment fund allows renters to apply for money to cover shortfalls in rent that are caused by things such as welfare reforms, deposits in advance of moving into a property, or in this case the Coronavirus pandemic.
The funding this year is up £40m from what the Government provided in 2019.
The funding also comes alongside news that eviction notices will be extended to six months, meaning that anyone currently in their home, will not being able to be evicted until after Christmas.
Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:
“We have protected renters during the pandemic by banning evictions for six months – the longest eviction ban in the UK. To further support renters we have increased notice periods to six months, an unprecedented measure to help keep people in their homes over the winter months.
“The government has taken unprecedented action to support renters during the pandemic, preventing people getting into financial hardship and helping businesses to pay salaries.
“The vast majority of landlords have shown understanding and leadership, taking action to support tenants despite facing hardship themselves. According to independent research, 87% of tenants have continued to pay full rent since the start of the pandemic, with a further 8% agreeing reduced fees with their landlords.”
