The number of households facing homelessness after receiving a no-fault eviction notice has reached a five-year high, official data reveals.
Just over 26,000 households were issued with a Section 21 notice by their landlord and left without a place to stay during the 2023/24 financial year.
This is a rise from 24,260 in 2022/23, according to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
There were a further 45,110 cases of homelessness that people suffered after being evicted following a landlord selling or re-letting their home, an increase of 3,000 on the year before.
The lion’s share of those circumstances was through landlords selling the property (31,520), something campaign groups hope will be reduced, with more rights given to outgoing tenants.
A Section 21 notice can be issued with at least two months’ warning by a landlord either when a fixed term tenancy ends if there’s a written contract or during a tenancy when there is no fixed end date; this is known as a ‘periodic’ tenancy.
Before the notice can be issued, the Government states landlords “should try” to resolve any disputes instead. This can involve a repayment plan for rent if there are any arrears.
However, a landlord cannot issue the notice in a range of circumstances, including if it’s fewer than four months since the tenancy started, if the tenant’s deposit is not in a deposit protection scheme or if the landlord does not have a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence from the council.
Abolishing Section 21 was part of the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto and was included in the mooted Renters Reform Bill.
The legislation was due to give better rights to renters. However, due to several proposed changes prolonging the law’s passing (one of which included the pausing of no-fault evictions until a court system report is published) and the change of Government, the Renters Reform Bill has not yet been implemented.
Meanwhile, the rise in homelessness caused by the notice follows mortgage possession claims increasing by a third year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, according to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) statistics.
That’s when a landlord takes over their mortgaged property before it is sold due to its tenants falling into arrears on rent.
Generation Rent has called for the Government to bring in new laws to protect renters that include a longer notice period than the current two months, plus financial support when the time comes.
‘Our home is foundation of our lives’
Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “Our home is the foundation of our lives, but for private renters, it can be snatched away only too easily. We get just two months’ notice to move and no support with the costs of moving or raising a new deposit.
“Government plans to end Section 21 will stop thousands of people being made homeless because their landlord feels like getting a new tenant in, but we will still face insecurity if selling up is to become a valid ground for eviction.”
Twomey added: “Where tenants face eviction for reasons beyond our control, we need more time in our homes, a longer notice period, and financial support with the costs of moving.”
