Sian Berry: ‘The principle here is that renters should not be shouldering the burden of these arrears and that the government should be helping small landlords in the way they help any other small business’

TENANTS say they are “in a mess” as unpaid rents lead to mounting debts that they have “no hope” of paying back.

Campaigners and politicians have now called for the government to introduce legislation that would write off any debts renters have built up during the pandemic.

A group of cash-strapped law students living in a flat in Archway, who did not want their names to be published, are one of the many households facing an uncertain future after their funds dried up and they stopped paying rent.

One of them told the Tribune: “We are all in a mess at the moment financially because of Covid so we haven’t paid rent for the last couple of months. Our lease runs out in August so we will have to leave then anyway, so we are trying to talk to the landlord about repaying rent, but I can’t see how we can do this.”

The 23-year-old postgraduate added: “We have student fees to pay on top of everything. Our parents want to help us, but a lot of them are out of work at the moment due to coronavirus.”

Dan Wilson Craw, director of Generation Rent which campaigns for private renters, said: “We need to prevent arrears built up during the pandemic from being grounds for eviction. We also need a way to write them off so that renters aren’t locked into suffocating repayment plans.”

Green Party leader Sian Berry asked London Mayor Sadiq Khan at the last mayor’s questions session if he would join them in pushing the government to implement a policy of “rent forgiveness”.

She added: “The principle here is that renters should not be shouldering the burden of these arrears and that the government should be helping small landlords in the way they help any other small business.”

Mr Khan did not commit to this measure, but said he supported an extension of the no-evictions amnesty.

A spokesman for the ministry of housing said: “Our guidance to landlords and tenants is clear – they need to work together at the earliest opportunity to address any concerns and to work through issues to avoid the need for action through the court. The Government will continue to carefully consider the next steps on how best to support tenants and landlords to ensure fairness in the rental market.”