My family faces homelessness during a pandemic unless the government acts

Renters deserve a better deal: we need more social housing, more rights and an end to landlords putting families like mine on the streets

The pandemic and lockdown have reminded us all of the importance of a decent home. All except the government, which is lifting the ban on evictions next week, a move that will cause life-changing trauma for thousands of people around the country. I should know, because it is happening to me.

I have lived in my home in southeast London with my teenage daughters for 10 years. In May, my landlord gave me a Section 21 notice, giving us three months to vacate the property.

We are devastated. I have been a model tenant, I have looked after and maintained the property to the best of my ability, and have never bothered my landlord unnecessarily. Whenever I have had a wobble I have communicated this and have actively sought a solution agreeable to both parties. I was furloughed for a while and receive housing benefit, but I have managed to keep on top of rent. Sadly this hasn’t been good enough for my landlord who hasn’t given me a reason – they just want me out.

The suspension on all evictions ends on 23 August, and we have no right of appeal, so when our notice period ends we have no option but to find alternative accommodation.

But moving isn’t an option. Benefits would only cover a one-bedroom flat, which is unacceptable with three women, one of whom is about to start her GCSEs, and the other has a chronic illness. And I can’t move away from my mother, who is recovering from a stroke, and my daughters’ father, who is a very important figure in their lives.

Even if I did find a home locally, the letting agent would reject my family because they require an above-average income as well as a guarantor who earns more than £50,000. Effectively this excludes all single-salaried households from the rental market.

I am still working, in early years care, so I’m one of the lucky ones. There are thousands of others who have always done the right thing but the government has shut down their workplace, and hasn’t provided enough support to cover the rent. A poll this week found that one in four private tenants in London are behind on rent or think they’re about to be. They too face homelessness when the courts open back up.

The council is meant to help but they are clearly overwhelmed with people in the same position as me or fleeing relationships that have broken down during lockdown. All my council did was give me a list of agents to contact.

In March, the housing secretary said: “No renter who has lost income due to coronavirus will be forced out of their home.” He’s running out of time to keep that promise and keep us in our homes.

Throughout this crisis, renters have borne the worst of the pandemic. According to Generation Rent research, we’re more likely to live in overcrowded homes with other working adults, risking infection at the height of the outbreak. We’re less likely to have had a garden or communal space to keep us sane during lockdown. Yet housing benefits still fail to cover the rent for most tenants, while homeowners are able to access mortgage holidays until the end of October. And to rub salt into the wound, the government’s stamp duty holiday has given landlords another opportunity to kick their tenants out.

The government owes renters a better deal: we need more social housing to let key workers live near their jobs and support networks. We need more rights to decent long term homes. Most immediately the government needs to stop landlords putting families like mine on the streets just as infections are rising again.

The ripple effect of a surge in evictions is incomprehensible. One person losing their home threatens so much more than just that one family. In my case it means my mum loses her carer, my children lose their social structure, access to their father and their schooling network, and ultimately I will lose my job. This is not just a housing issue: it threatens the very fabric of our communities. This is everyone’s problem.

That’s why I have started a petition to demand that the government extends the eviction ban to stop people losing their home where they’ve got into arrears or, like me, where the landlord doesn’t even have a reason. For those who have lost work, their home is all they have right now.