Organisations are calling for more to be done to protect renters from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has announced the ban on evictions in England and Wales has been extended from June 25 until August 23.

But Richard Hazell, senior solicitor at the Wiltshire Law Centre, said more needs to be done.

“In some ways, it’s wonderful that the government has extended the evictions for another eight weeks,” he said. “But I think it fails to deal with underlying issues which are building up to a real potential crisis.

“Namely that the Section 21 no-fault evictions have not been made illegal or ruled out, and because it fails to deal with the issue of Ground 8.”

This applies to housing association tenants who owe two or more months of rent both at the time of a notice from the housing association to leave and at the date of the court hearing. Ground 8 means the court must make a possession order to evict the tenant under these circumstances.

Richard added: “The law does not say that if the person incurred the arrears due to having coronavirus then that’s okay, the judge has the discretion not to make the possession order. The law says the opposite.

"If Ground 8 is satisfied then a judge must make an order.

“There will be some wriggle room for defences but the basic law is unchanged. Section 21 and Ground 8 are all still valid, so come August 23 and onwards it is going to be very difficult arguing for eviction not to take place on those grounds,” he said.

ACORN Swindon echoed calls for more protection for tenants, having warned of a potential flood of eviction notices once the ban is lifted.

Hector Steenbergen from the community union said: “The government needs to do more to ensure that all tenants are treated fairly, not just the minority classed as most vulnerable, and have the support they need to avoid getting into rent debt.

"And while legal aid should be available when needed, court cases should be the last resort for exceptional cases and the aim should be to avoid evictions through no fault of tenants.

“Robert Buckland, our own MP in Swindon South will be playing a key part in the government plans in his role as Minister of Justice. We would encourage his constituents to write to him with any evidence they have on this issue.”