Property stocks hit on report government to extend eviction ban Struggling retail and hospitality businesses are set to be safe from eviction for unpaid rent for another six months, according to reports today. The government is set to extend the ban on commercial evictions until 2022, The Telegraph reported, prompting a welcome response from occupiers and anger from owners. Curbs on landlords taking a tenants goods and selling them to recoup rent arrears are also expected to be extended. Hospitality sector bosses had predicted a wave of closures if measures supporting the industry had ended as scheduled on 1 July. At a Treasury Select Committee hearing earlier this month, representatives from the travel, hospitality and retail sector said £5bn in overdue rent had accrued during lockdowns. UKHospitality boss Kate Nicholls said a third of its members expect to receive rent demands as soon as the deadline passed, even if some were still shut. In a statement today, Nicholls said that if the report was true it would ''banish a grim shadow that has hung menacingly over hospitality'' since the Covid crisis began.