Time for the government to step up and protect private renters.
The government (and experts) are concerned enough about the current Covid situation to enact plan B (or C or whatever).
So where's the protection for private renters - who, thanks to no fault evictions, can be evicted with just two months notice. In the middle of winter. During a pandemic. For no reason at all.
I read an awful case today. A family with 4 children are due to be evicted for no reason on the no fault eviction process. On Christmas Eve.
There will undoubtedly be some private tenants who are immunocompromised (and therefore potentially less protected by vaccines).
Eviction during a bad winter Covid wave could be a death sentence.
Many tenants are evicted despite being up to date on their rent (no anti social behaviour either). If rent is in arrears, there should be the ability for landlords to receive it directly from wages/benefits.
Particularly during an Omicron winter and whilst supply of monoclonal antibodies and antivirals is so limited, evictions should be banned for all but the most urgent situations (eg. violence).