Campaigning charity Shelter wants the government to fast-track its pledge to scrap Section 21 eviction powers.
The government pledged a White Paper and a reform bill to scrap the powers - but these could in theory take a year or more to play out because of slow Parliamentary procedure.
So Shelter wants the scrapping to be accelerated following the publication of new eviction figures over the weekend.
The figures reveal that 5,890 landlords in England started Section 21 eviction court proceedings against tenants between January and March 2022 – up 41 per cent compared to the same period in 2020 before the pandemic.
Claims for eviction for other reasons by private landlords also increased, totalling 6,316 claims in the first quarter of 2022 – up by 11 per cent on the same period in 2020.
Overall 18,626 eviction claims were made to court by landlords between January and March 2022, up by 32 per cent on the previous quarter.
The government first committed to scrap Section 21 evictions in April 2019 and Shelter claims that since then, nearly 230,000 private renters in England have been served with a formal eviction notice.
A statement from Shelter says: “Recent Office for National Statistics figures show that half of renters could not afford an unexpected, but necessary, expense of £850. Yet new research by Shelter reveals the average cost of moving home for a private renter, including deposits and rent in advance, is nearly double that: £1,650.”
Polly Neate, Shelter’s chief executive, says: “It’s alarming that as the living cost crisis rages more landlords are kicking tenants out of their homes. These are real people whose lives are being turned upside down and simply cannot afford to lose their homes right now.
“Every day our emergency helpline supports renters who are scrambling around trying to find another home after being slapped with a no-fault eviction. But soaring living costs mean many are struggling to stump up the cash for a house move they don’t want to make.
“While scrapping Section 21 evictions alone won’t solve the cost-of-living crisis for renters, it will at least give them some much needed security in their homes.
“The government promised renters three times that it will introduce a Renters’ Reform Bill to scrap unfair Section 21 no-fault evictions. Now, it must get the job done as every minute wasted puts another renter at risk.”
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Of course Shelter want the abolition of S21 to speed up. The more people their actions put people out on the streets the more they justify their existence.
A shame that Shelter’s charitable status cannot be scrapped. They don’t house anyone apart from Polly Bleat and their campaigns actually make life worse for tenants. We are, over the next few years, selling up because of the anti-landlord policies of this harridan and her so-called charity.
I think you are not allowed to use charitable status for political purposes.
Perhaps all these landlords are selling up because with all the anti-LL noise.
At the end of the day, if a LL wants to sell, they are entitled to do so. If Shelter want Landlords to remain within the PRS, then they have to stop demonising them and work with them.
A good Landlord will not undertake eviction notice without reason - so whilst Section 21 is "no fault", it is usually because either the LL wants to sell (and the tenant has ignored the 2 month notice) or the tenant has broken the terms of the contract and Section 8 is expensive. LL do not want empty properties and can not afford to have full properties with tenants paying no rent!
It's a self fulfilling prophesy, the more you push to ban S21 the more will be served before it comes to be. Government needs to think very carefully before they remove one of the main pillars of the 1988 Housing Act, shrink the Private Rented Sector and throw tenants onto the streets with nowhere to go because the Public Rented Sector has not been building. Government should be giving the Private Rented Sector carrots, bot beating it with sticks.
Shelter is causing absolute havoc in the PRS world by attempting to erode what tiny sliver of control landlords have over their own possessions. We are now selling our portfolio piece by piece to residential purchasers because the stress has become ridiculous. If landlords are feeling the same way I predict a rather diminished pool of rental properties being available in the future. What then? Any new homes ever being built are completely out of the financial reach of many people, and any promises made by governments to suddenly start building social housing in these very difficult financial times seem highly unlikely to come true. Shelter would do far better to stop its intrinsic opposition to landlords and the private rented sector and rather to work alongside in partnership to help improve matters for both landlords and tenants.
I wish Polly Bleat was my tenant. I would enjoy literally kicking her out. Does this woman ever use the correct terminology or does everything have to portray Landlords as nasty, greedy people and tenants as poor, downtrodden innocents?
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