Notice periods for renters in arrears will be cut to four months as the pandemic eases, the government said yesterday.

The new measures will come into force on 1 June, just ahead of when all lockdown restrictions are currently due to end on 21 June.

During the health crisis the department for Housing, Communities and Local Government extended notice periods to six months as an emergency measure to protect renters in financial distress.

But the department says as “the nation is now progressing cautiously through the roadmap, and emergency measures for renters introduced during the pandemic will be brought in line with this”.

Housing minister Christopher Pincher adds: “From the beginning of the pandemic, we have taken unprecedented action to protect renters and help keep them in their homes.

“As Covid restrictions are eased in line with the roadmap out of lockdown, we will ensure tenants continue to be supported with longer notice periods, while also balancing the need for landlords to access justice.”

The department says 45% of private landlords own just one property and are “highly vulnerable to rent arrears”.

The National Residential Landlords Association said 7% of private renters, or 840,000 tenants, have built arrears during the current pandemic, in December.

The government adds the current ban on bailiff-enforced evictions, introduced during lockdown, will end on 31 May.

Although it has asked bailiffs not to carry out an eviction if anyone living in the property has Covid-19 symptoms, or is self-isolating.

It adds that “subject to the public health advice and progress with the roadmap” notice periods will return to pre-pandemic levels from 1 October.

However, landlords are currently able to evict tenants over issues such as anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse and a breach of immigration rules.

NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle says: “Having operated under emergency conditions for over a year, today’s announcement from the Government is an important step in ensuring the sector’s recovery.”

But Beadle adds: “It does nothing though to address the rent debt crisis. With the number of private tenants in arrears having increased threefold since lockdown measures started, more are at risk of losing their homes as restrictions ease.

“We want to see tenancies sustained wherever possible and call on the chancellor [Rishi Sunak] to step in and provide affected tenants with the financial support they need to pay off rent arrears built as a result of the pandemic.”

Head of insurance at lettings platform Goodlord Oli Sherlock says: “The stay on evictions couldn’t remain in place forever and, with the last lockdown restrictions almost behind us, now is a sensible time to roll-back the measures and provide clearer timelines on next steps.

“While the ban was clearly a well-intentioned decision designed to protect tenants, it has caused financial distress to some landlords and enabled rogue renters to avoid paying rent in isolated cases.

Sherlock adds: “The key concern throughout, however, has been and remains what happens after the ban is lifted. Renters who have amassed arrears will soon be faced with the need to repay or face eviction.

“And courts are braced for a deluge of cases to process evictions that they may struggle to cope with. What the Government needs to do now is ensure that robust, effective mediation services are available to all and that tenants and landlords are both clear on their rights and responsibilities.

“Without a sensitive, practical, and nuanced approach to the next phase, the fallout will be harsher than it needs to be.”

During Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech, the government said it will publish a white paper in the autumn “that will set out proposals to create a fairer private rented sector that works for both landlords and tenants.”

It added the paper will include proposals for the abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions “to give tenants greater security, and a new ‘lifetime deposit’ to ease the burden when moving house”.