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Unfair ‘no fault’ evictions made every 15 minutes this summer

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
14/07/2023

A Section 21 eviction claim will be made every 15 minutes over the six-week summer holiday analysis suggests, as the Government pushes back progress on outlawing the unfair practice until autumn.

Section 21 allows landlords to evict tenants without needing to give a reason.

Since the Government promised to end Section 21 in 2019, more than 60,000 no fault eviction court proceedings have been initiated by landlords, analysis of official mortgage possession statistics by Generation Rent revealed.

But this number could swell as the Parliamentary debate to make unfair evictions unlawful is not scheduled to take place before the autumn.

A delay to the Renters (Reform) Bill will put more renters at risk according to Generation Rent. It said a further push back to reform could result in potentially 3,787 unfair evictions – up to 90 every single day – before children go back to school and Parliament reconvenes this autumn.

If the Section 21 notice is valid, then tenants will be unable to challenge the decision.

Generation Rent has called for the Government to immediately schedule the Renters (Reform) Bill’s Second Reading as a priority for when Parliament next sits so renters can be protected.

‘Delays to the reforms lead to despair’

Ben Twomey, chief executive of Generation Rent, said: “The summer holidays are nearly here but Parliament is not summer-ready. Despite promising four years ago to outlaw arbitrary evictions, the Government has failed to table the second reading of the Renters (Reform) Bill.

“We are now seeing the desperate situation in which every 15 minutes over the summer a renter will be packing their bags, not to go on holiday but because they are being evicted from their home.”

He added: “Recent soaring rises in rents on new tenancies mean that many families will no longer be able to afford to rent near their children’s schools if they are evicted.

“Delays in Parliament are leading to despair across the country. Urgent action is needed to end unfair evictions and Generation Rent will keep not stop campaigning until renters are protected.”