By William Thien Duc Le, Politics Editor at The London Financial
The contentious practice of “no-fault evictions” through Section 21 notices, long a concern for tenants, is becoming more common, with evictions up 38% between July and September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. Unfortunately, by delaying the repeal of Section 21, the Government has prioritised the interests of landlords over those of vulnerable renters.
Section 21 notices allow landlords to terminate tenancies with a two-month notice without any specific reason. While offering flexibility to property owners, they have been criticised for impacting tenants’ security and housing stability.
Section 21 orders are worsening the UK’s homelessness problem. Alarmingly, in the fiscal year 2022-23, 24.260 households approached their local councils, reporting that they faced homelessness due to receiving valid Section 21 notices—an alarming 23% increase from the previous year. Similarly, the charity Citizens Advice assisted over 2,000 people with homelessness issues in October 2023, most caused by section 21 notices.
Many people had hoped that the Government would finally abolish Section 21 notices as part of its new Renters (Reform) Bill and, in doing so, give tenants greater security and stability in their homes. Unfortunately, despite having promised to abolish no-fault evictions since 2019, these hopes have been dashed.
While many MPs have welcomed the proposed abolition of Section 21 notices, some Government backbenchers have warned that it might cause landlords to exit the housing market. If this happens, they argue, there will be a considerable shortage of housing supply, and more is needed for a significant renting demand. Marcus Fysh has warned that a lack of housing supply could undermine the Government’s efforts to tackle inflation. Backbenchers Desmond Swayne and Daniel Kawczynski even raise a concern about the need to support landlords in tenants with severe rent arrears or profound anti-social behaviour background once the Section 21 notice is abolished.
Thanks to the lobbying effort of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), which warned that landlords faced “a huge backlog of court process”, the Government now claims that section 21 can only be repealed once new court processes have been established and existing ones have been reformed. Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of NRLA, even emphasises that landlords are equally crucial to tenants. As a result, the Government is influenced by NRLA’s extensive lobbying campaign.
Also, landlord grounds for repossession must be reinforced, and new mandatory settings such as selling the property. Grounds for eviction need to be expanded to accommodate situations where close family members need to move in. Landlords can evict tenants within two weeks if there are breaches of the tenancy agreement or property damage. Besides, it is necessary to have a new Private Rented Sector Ombudsman and more power to local councils to provide fair and independent support for tenants and landlords. This is the first challenge that reaching the abolition of Section 21 notice might take a lengthy time, and no one can tell when the new legal ground will be fully completed.
Moreover, The Renters Reform Bill allows landlords to evict tenants for personal use or property sale, with a provision to re-let the property after three months. One critic argues that the three-month waiting period is not a significant deterrent. They highlight the potential misuse of eviction for addressing complaints, as it may be cheaper for landlords to evict rather than address property issues. Additionally, the ease of claiming intent to sell without an actual sale raises concerns about abuse. Similar practices in Scotland, where no-fault evictions are theoretically illegal, have resulted in a significant portion of properties being re-let after eviction for purported sales between 2018 and 2020.
Especially amidst rising homelessness levels and a cost-of-living crisis, vulnerable UK renters need reliable, thorough protection. It is a shame that even the Government’s modest proposals to abolish section 21 notices have fallen prey to vested interests.
