Facing this viral pandemic, the Government must act urgently to ensure no
one is left on the street homeless, and that no-one loses their home due
to the virus.
Therefore we must have urgent action to:
- Immediately open up hotels and other empty buildings to house all the homeless
- Ensure no evictions or repossession action during this crisis: suspend rent and mortgage liability for anyone whose income is cut due to the virus
- Scrap the five-week wait for Universal Credit/housing benefit and
suspend all benefit sanctions
And as millions are living in overcrowded, unsuitable and unaffordable
homes, we need immediate action with grant funding to:
- Build 100,000 council homes a year at social rent with secure
tenancies.
We stand united – we won’t blame each other, we need action by
Government now.
We are making our statement into an online petition to Parliament, and will need
your help to get lots of people signing, to force Government to address
it. It is waiting for Parliament to process it; once it’s live, we will
send the link.
Under mounting pressure, Government has made some steps:
- Action to provide a roof for street homeless, at local discretion.
No move for the thousands in cramped temporary accommodation, sharing rooms, kitchens and bathrooms with other household - Mortgage payers can request a limited ‘holiday’
- Ministers are ‘guiding’ courts not to process the 20,000 evictions
in the pipeline. Further evictions are delayed for three months.
Renters are still being hassled to pay rent they can’t afford - No shift on five-week wait for Universal Credit; you can ask for
an advance, to be deducted from future payments - Work on luxury housing and other non-essential projects continues,
but no commitment yet on funding for future council housing
So this is still urgent, and our united voice can send an important
message. We will update you on when the petition is ready for you to circulate and add your name.