Coronavirus: No evictions - suspend mortgage and rent payments

• No evictions – suspend mortgage and rent payments

• End overcrowding – requisition empty dwellings

“At present there are 10,448 people accessing emergency accommodation, including 1,685 families.These are overcrowded households and are a breeding ground for the spread of Covid-19. Many other people will face the threat of eviction if they are on reduced income due to illness or layoff.

“The government must act immediately to avert a bigger health crisis developing from the housing crisis it has already created. A complete moratorium on evictions or threat of eviction for the duration of the Coronavirus crisis is needed now. Mortgage and rent payments must be suspended for anyone on reduced income due to illness, caring for a sick person or children, or laid off during the Coronavirus crisis. Empty dwellings should be requisitioned to clear family hubs and reduce overcrowding to slow the spread of the infection. We still need an immediate plan to build 100,000 units of zero-emission public housing at approx 33,000 units for €6.6 billion a year over the next three years. This would lessen a deep recession from the combined crisis of the finance industry and the economic impact of the Coronavirus.

“Measures to finance this bailout for workers would include suspending payments of €1.3 billion a year bank-bailout interest, using EU funds that become available, introducing an emergency millionaire’s tax, and increasing tax on big corporations. Providing housing in this way is much cheaper than paying landlords roughly €1 billion a year in rent support.”