For some people, the impact of this freeze will be even more significant as financial uncertainty grows in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. The Government has recently confirmed that housing benefit will rise during the pandemic so that LHA covers the cheapest 30% of local market rents. I welcome this decision and I will press Ministers to maintain LHA rates at this level beyond the pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak requires a rapid response to protect families and I believe the Government should consider raising LHA further to cover average rents as a temporary measure to ensure that nobody is made homeless as a result of any fall in income during the pandemic. I also support calls for Ministers to double funding for discretionary housing payments to allow councils to cover rent shortfalls.

Tenants should not live in fear of losing their homes, yet I believe the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that current legislation on renting leaves residents vulnerable to eviction if they are ill and fall behind on their rent. While the Government has suspended housing possessions for 90 days from 27 March 2020, there are no plans to ban rent increases over this period and I know that many tenants are concerned about their ability to pay rent during and beyond the outbreak.

Alongside extending the ban on evictions for a further three months, I will press Ministers to ensure that those tenants who cannot afford to pay because their income has fallen due to COVID-19 can defer payment if necessary, and to legislate for a more manageable two-year period for renters to pay back any deferred rent.

In the long term, I will press the Government to maintain the higher rate of LHA and address the shortage of secure, decent and affordable homes to rent and buy. I support an upscale in council and housing association building to provide thousands more genuinely affordable homes for people on ordinary incomes in every part of the country.