Labour has joined with campaign groups Generation Rent and Shelter in calling for the speediest possible ending of Section 21 eviction powers, as pledged by the Conservatives in the 2019 General Election.
It is thought that the scrapping of that provision of the 1988 Housing Act may be included in the White Paper on rental reform, expected from the government this autumn but now known to be delayed further until 2022.
Now Sem Moema, Labour’s London Assembly housing spokesperson, has written to Housing Secretary Michael Gove to demand a timetable.
She says: “No fault evictions not only unjustly uproot the lives of too many families and individuals, but add to the insurmountable pressures already being placed upon councils.
“The government’s inertia over implementing its reforms to the private rented sector and outlawing these evictions has been shameful and this has had a direct impact on thousands of Londoners.”
Figures produced by pressure groups and data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and the Communities suggest that between April 2019 and June 2021, 5,770 London households were served with a Section 21 eviction notice.
It is also reported that between April 2019 and March 2021, councils across the country stepped in to support 91,710 private tenants who were facing eviction.
Campaigners and opposition politicians have increased their criticism of what they see as unnecessary delays in the carrying out of the Conservative S21 commitment.
Lloyd Russell-Moyle – chair of the All-party Parliamentary Group on Renters and Rental Reform, and a shadow minister under former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn – has tweeted that the country “needs legislation urgently” on the issue.
Both Shelter and Generation Rent have been long-standing critics of the delay.
Meanwhile last week it emerged that the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities was delaying the White Paper for some months, apparently to give time for the government to produce what it calls a “balanced package of reforms” avoiding “unintentional consequences.”
