The ban on evictions in England was today extended to August after renters warned they faced "disaster".
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick tonight extended the measures to August 23, less than three weeks before they were due to expire.
The suspension of eviction proceedings applies to both social and private rented homes.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it is working on new court rules "to ensure vulnerable renters can be protected appropriately" when the halt on evictions ends.
Housing charity Shelter welcomed tonight's extension but warned it was "only a stop-gap".
Chief executive Polly Neate said: “The government has reset the clock on the evictions ban, buying the families who were only weeks away from losing their homes, a vital stay of execution.
"But it’s only a stop-gap.
"The ban hasn’t stopped people who’ve lost their jobs during this pandemic from racking up rent arrears.
"Even if they have a plan to pay them back, these debts will throw struggling renters straight back into the firing line of an automatic eviction as soon as the ban does lift.
"It’s critical that Robert Jenrick uses this extension wisely to change the law and properly protect renters.
"Judges must be given the power to stop people losing their homes because of coronavirus, otherwise the country will face a tidal wave of homelessness after the end of August.
"Sooner or later, the government has to stop kicking the can down the road."
The London Renters Union campaign group, which has urged struggling tenants to stage a rent strike, had warned Mr Jenrick had 20 days to stop "disaster".
Amina Gichinga from LRU said: "Unless it takes action to cancel the debt that hundreds of thousands of renters are in because of the Coronavirus pandemic, today’s announcement simply kicks the can down the road.
“We’re still heading for a chaotic rent debt and eviction crisis this summer unless the government cancels rent debt and makes the eviction ban permanent."
