Today, the Chancellor has set out the Government’s Budget for the financial year, with the following commitments included: 

• The Job Retention scheme will be extended until the end of September. 
• The £20 a week top-up of Universal Credit will be extended for a further six months.
• A tapered extension to the stamp duty holiday.
• A government guarantee scheme aimed at making 95% mortgages more accessible. 

Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, said: “It is very disappointing to see the housing support announced today is limited to home buyers. Hundreds of thousands of renters in arrears are facing eviction in a matter of weeks and must not be forgotten. We also desperately need more social housing, while a lack of further investment in housing benefit will push more people into poverty and put them at risk of homelessness.  

“We welcome the extensions to the Universal Credit top-up and the Job Retention Scheme, but the UK government must go further. With the UK facing up to the economic impact of the pandemic and unemployment on the rise, we need to see an ambitious approach to preventing and ending homelessness. A safe and secure home provides dignity but also a vital foundation to those seeking work, so preventing homelessness is essential in supporting our national recovery. 

“Last year the UK government’s bold emergency action showed homelessness is not inevitable, but that progress is at risk of being undone if further action is not taken now.”