An activist group claims that homeless cases arising from Section 21 evictions are now at their highest level since records began – although those records began only in 2018.

In the final quarter of 2021, some 8,530 households in England were supported by councils because they were evicted, claims Generation Rent.

The previous peak was 7,680 in the second quarter of 2018.

Baroness Alicia Kennedy, the director of Generation Rent, says: “With house prices and rents surging, landlords have been cashing in by selling up or replacing their tenants with people who can afford to pay more.

“The cost of this upheaval is falling on the tenants themselves and stretched local authorities.

“In its forthcoming White Paper, the government must act to provide a more stable rental market.

“This means scrapping no-fault Section 21 evictions and ensuring that landlords who want their property back for legitimate reasons support their tenants to find a new place to live.”