It’s a year today since the closure of the formal government consultation into scrapping Section 21 powers for agents and landlords.
In last year’s announcement the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government gave amongst its reasons for abolishing Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act: “Many tenants live with the worry of being evicted at short notice or continue to live in poor accommodation for fear they will be asked to leave if they complain about problems with their home.”
Generation Rent - the group of activists at the forefront of the campaign to scrap the powers - claims that as well as discouraging tenants from exercising their rights to a safe home, Section 21 allows landlords to take back their properties with no responsibility for rehousing their tenants.
A statement from Generation Rent to commemorate the anniversary says: “The law is one of the leading causes of homelessness: 28,580 households were made homeless in 2019-20 after their landlord evicted them following a complaint by the tenant, or in order to sell or re-let the property. Section 21 prevents private renters from enjoying a stable home.”
England's private rented sector currently involves 1.625m families with children and 1.5m households headed by someone aged 45 or older, according to Generation Rent figures.
The number of these older renters has increased by 55 per cent from 967,000 in 2010-11 when the Conservatives entered government, and will - the group claims - struggle to enter home ownership.
Generation Rent is calling on the government to introduce its Renters Reform Bill, initially pledged in the Queen's Speech in December 2019, which will involve the end of Section 21.
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“With no responsibility to re house there tenants.” What!!! When did we assume this role from councils?
How dare landlords want to sell their property! GR fail to realise that renting a property is a simple business contract, not a lifetime commitment and that many of their “wonderful” tenants are given notice because they don’t pay the rent and are no so wonderful!
Rubbish, if you take on a business that provides homes for profit then the law should make you have financial consequences when you want to sell up, a renter doesnt rent as he wants to help you financially, they want a home, same as you expect Tesco to sell you food and not turn round next week and refuse to do so, many renters who have paid their rent are forced to move at their cost as a Landlord wants to sell, fine sell to another Landlord and so on, to you a renter might be a yield but to a renter its their home
Maybe the penny has dropped with government that this will drive out a huge amount of landlords and where will they put them
Be surprised government gives a dam. Doesn't seem to be a priority just now. Anyway, hasn't it been abolished and more through the back door?
I would like to know how S8 would be enhanced to give the same facility as S21 to get rid of rent defaulting tenants preventing tenants from paying arrears down to one month which currently forces the LL to recommence expensive legal action.
That is why LL use S21.
As per usual GR trotting out the same old S21 propaganda with MSM especially the BBC disseminating it.
S21 is usually issued because of rent defaulting.
Therefore it is rent defaulting that is the cause of most evictions.
S21 is just the legal process used.
Rent defaulting is hardly non-fault!!
But I believe Govt will introduce even more obstacles to S21 that effectively it will have been abolished before it officially is.
Govt can just keep laying Statutory Instruments like it has been doing since March making eviction impossible to achieve in a decent timeframe.
It is pointless being a LL if you are unable to recover your property for whatever reason and whenever you want.
The PRS by it's very nature is an insecure tenure.
It only lasts for as long ad the LL wishes to trade.
Are we to see LL FORCED to trade even when they don't want to!?
Isn't that a sort of Communism through the back door.
Reminds me of Hotel California; you check in but if a LL you can never leave!!
Can't see many LL staying for that.
Slowly but surely we are returning to the bad old days of sitting tenants and that destroyed property values.
Few LL would bother staying in business if those bad old days were to return.
No idea where tenants would go as LL sell up!
If landlords sell up they will not give a care what happens to tenants.
Good job food suppliers dont have your atitude, or your past employers just sack you at will, the atitude you should be able to turf people at will is a disgusting atitude, if you rent out homes you should have some degree of laws to protect the customer or renters face a life of renting through people like you
David Edmunds - Polly Bleat in disguise having a few rants tonight. In nearly 20 years only one of my tenants has been given notice, the rest have left on their own accord. The one exception was because I was selling and I gave her all the help to enable her to qualify for a HA property including all the white goods in the property.
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