Government plans will allow communal night shelters for people experiencing homelessness to reopen this winter. But we know this isn’t safe - these shelters were shut down in March as they were deemed unsafe during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government’s plans could force people to choose between freezing on the street or going to a shelter where they could catch Covid-19. Both options needlessly put lives at risk. Major health and homelessness organisations, like Crisis, have spoken out against the plan - they say the government isn't going far enough to protect people and keep them safely off the streets this winter. The government has previously committed to halving rough sleeping by 2022 and ending it by 2027. Winter and COVID-19 present a dangerous emergency. They must do everything possible to protect homeless people this winter.

If you are a nurse, care worker or retail worker in Monmouthshire then you probably can't afford to live here. Unless you are in priority need you probably won't get social housing, and with around 3000 households on the waiting list you'll be advised to rent privately. With soaring local rents and short term tenancies this isn't a good basis for making a life or for raising a family. In 2018, County Councillor Dimitri Batrouni, leader of the Labour group on Monmouthshire County Council, put forward a practical plan for more social rented homes in Monmouthshire, using some of the land holdings that the Council and other public bodies own. The plan was agreed by all parties, including the ruling Conservative group, who then quietly shelved it. In the wake of Covid 19 we believe that the people we all rely on, our heroic key workers, and also the many disabled and vulnerable local people, deserve better. Everyone needs a secure, low carbon, affordable home. They must not continue to be pushed out of the area where they work and belong by inflated house prices. The County Council may say that they have a long term plan for private developers to build affordable housing through planning gain, but we've all seen those promises watered down and not delivered, and with the current recession and uncertainty those homes may never be built. The Council may also say they no longer have the money, and with local authority budgets under pressure we know that it will be hard to find. But with determination, and the support of the Welsh Government, we believe that the affordable, low carbon, secure rented homes the county needs can be delivered, creating local construction jobs in the process. If you agree, sign our petition, and please share it on social media. For more information go to www.h4mh.org.uk or to get involved email [email protected]. We want to hear your story.

Urgent action needed before the current ban ends on Monday! My name is Nichola. I have lived in my home in south London with my daughters for ten years. In May, my landlord gave me a Section 21 no-fault eviction notice, giving us three months to move out. We are devastated. I was furloughed for a while and receive housing benefit, but 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 government has suspended most evictions over Christmas but they lifted this in September, so we have no option but to find alternative accommodation. But moving isn’t an option. Benefits would only get me a 1 bedroom flat, which is unacceptable with two girls, one of whom is about to start her GCSEs. And I can’t move away from my mother, who’s recovering from a stroke, or my daughters’ father. The local council can’t help – they’ve just sent us to letting agents who are demanding an above average income and the details of someone who earns more than £50,000 to guarantee the rent. Single-earner households are excluded from the rental market. And I’m a key worker, 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. They too face homelessness when the courts open back up after the government’s Christmas truce. I spoke to Generation Rent about my experience - they estimate that homelessness could treble as a result of coronavirus. While the latest surge of infections threatens to overwhelm the NHS, the government must do all it can to keep people in their homes. He’s running out of time to keep that promise and keep us in our homes with He needs to act now to give renters and the wider public the protection we need during the pandemic

The government just unveiled its “once in a generation” plan for housing - and and it’s a huge blow to nurses, teachers and anyone struggling to pay sky high rent, or unable to find a home they can afford. Under the proposals, property developers who don't build any affordable housing on some sites, will continue to get away with also not having to chip in to help councils build affordable homes elsewhere. A whole generation of people are being locked out of decent housing, and housing charity Shelter has said that social housing “could face extinction” if these proposals are approved. We can’t let that happen. These plans aren’t set in stone - yet. The government wants to hear from us before it makes any firm decisions. It’s the perfect opportunity to tell them - loudly and clearly - how disastrous this could be for millions of people struggling to find affordable housing.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed how deeply broken Scotland’s housing system is. Before the pandemic, tenants were already living paycheck-to-paycheck with exploitative and unaffordable rents. Because of coronavirus, many workers have lost their jobs or faced reduced incomes and have been unable to pay rent altogether. While some people have been lucky enough to quarantine in comfortable, warm, spacious homes -- far too many renters have had to see out the pandemic in cramped, dangerously poor-quality housing. So far, the Scottish Government has been woefully inadequate in its support for tenants, doing little more than introducing a temporary ban on evictions while home-owners and landlords have benefitted from mortgage freezes and millions in interest-free loans from the Scottish Government. We are now nearing the end of the eviction-ban, and as things stand, tens of thousands of people who have not been able to afford their rents are now shouldered with crushing debt burdens. This will cause an unprecedented wave of evictions across the country and will only further prolong this health crisis. It can’t be allowed to happen. That’s why we are demanding that the Scottish Government immediately: 1) Extend the evictions-ban for all tenants who have fallen into rent arrears as a result of the pandemic 2) Introduce emergency support measures to stop tenants facing enormous and unaffordable debt burdens from unpaid rent And in the long-term: 3) Implement rent controls to protect tenants from sky-high rents and punitive increases, as well as to guarantee that landlords can’t take advantage of new support measures for tenants by increasing rents 4) Build more social housing that is healthy, safe, affordable, and in quantities that will meet everyone’s needs

DAMAGE TO HOMES, ROADS, FINANCIAL LOSS, INJURY, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS. PERSONS LOSS OF USE OF THEIR HOME & POSSESSIONS UNECCASSAIRLY.

Millions of people, who have struggled to pay rent due to coronavirus, could soon be forced out of their home - because the government's temporary ban on evictions is set to end on the 23rd August. And as it stands there are no laws or proper protections in place to stop landlords evicting those of us who have lost our jobs and struggled to pay rent during the crisis. To fix this mess, influential MPs and housing experts are calling on the government to give judges the power to protect renters from being evicted because of arrears caused by coronavirus. Only then can the government lift the ban on evictions. We need to send the government a clear message: Make sure renters are properly protected before lifting the ban on evictions. So that no one is forced from their home due to the coronavirus crisis. A huge petition, signed by hundreds and thousands of people across the country, is the first step

It has been proven that the homeless can be housed while it suited the Government at the height of the Covid 19 crisis in order to prevent the spread of the virus. End homelessness NOW.

Over 100 years ago, after the First World War one of the first actions of Lloyd George’s government was to promise to provide ‘homes fit for heroes’. A century later we have still failed to deliver on that promise. 30 years later, after the Second World War, with Government debt nearly two and a half times GDP, we as a country decided that everyone should have a right to Healthcare, Education and a Pension, but for some reason didn’t include homes, one of the most basic necessities of life. Still, for the next 20 years we behaved as if we were still including homes in the things people were entitled to as a right, between 1947 and 1967 Local Authorities built three million homes. Then they stopped, and in 1980 almost all those homes we’d built were sold off. Now almost all building of homes is done by private builders. Private builders will build homes fit for heroes, as long as those heroes can pay. How many of today’s heroes can afford one of those homes. Unfortunately tens of thousands of people will lose their lives in the UK because of Covid-19. Of those that survive hundreds of thousands of people, maybe millions, will lose their livelihoods, and they almost all risk losing their homes as a result. It doesn’t have to be that way. Right now we spend £10,000 a year per household, every year, on Healthcare, Education and Pensions (£320 billion, close to the £350 billion Rishi Sunak pledged to protect business). We can build a home for £30,000. I know, I’ve helped do it. Three years of the money we spend on Health, Education and Pensions and everyone could have a home for life. A home that may last a hundred years. Never need to pay rent again, never need to pay a mortgage again. How much would that transform people’s lives? We don’t even need to build a home for everyone, most of the homes we need are already built, we just need to build enough more, and come up with a new form of possession. We should all have security of tenure in our own homes. £100 billion, the amount we spend every year on Health, Education and Pensions would build a million homes at £100,000 each. We could build enough homes for everyone. If we want to. Why should we have to pay for a home all our life? Why should we not have a right to a home for life? Why should we risk losing our homes whenever something else goes wrong in our lives? We should return to building enough homes for everyone to have one, the right sort of homes, in the right places, and give people security in their homes.

As the coronavirus crisis continues and many of us are losing our jobs, more people than ever will be applying for housing benefits to help us get through. But unless the government increases the amount of rent it covers, thousands of people still won’t be able to afford their rent. That’s because right now housing benefits only cover the cost of the cheapest 30% of rent prices, and it can leave people hundreds of pounds short on their rent. With so many people suddenly relying on housing benefits to pay rent, and with no option to move to a cheaper flat, we’re calling on the government to increase the Local Housing Allowance to cover at least the average cost of renting and remove any caps stopping people getting the full amount. Will you sign the petition now, and help make sure that those impacted by the coronavirus crisis have the support they need.

BECAUSE MANY SOCIAL HOUSING TENANTS WILL NEED THEIR SPARE ROOM IN ORDER TO ISOLATE

In the very near future, thousands of private renters across Northern Ireland will face huge reductions in their income and be unable to pay their rent. Being evicted during the Covid-19 crisis will mean being unable to stay safe and healthy - and not spread the virus. The government has announced "mortgage holidays" for landlords and home-owners and cities in the US including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco have already taken action to stop evictions. Now it's time to give renters in Northern Ireland the protections they need to keep their homes during the coronavirus crisis.