No-fault evictions ‘too easy’
By Andrew Dowdeswell, Data Reporter, Buxton Advertiser, 24 August 2023
Several rental properties have been repossessed without an explicit reason given in the High Peak since the Government pledged to ban no-fault evictions in 2019, new figures show.
Shelter said hundreds of families ‘risk being thrown into homelessness every day’ while the practice remains legal.
The Government published the Renters Reform Bill in May, but it is yet to pass through Parliament.
The latest Ministry of Justice Figures show nine repossessions were made through ‘accelerated possession orders’ in High Peak since the beginning of April 2019. Of them, four were completed in the year to June - up from one in the year before.
An accelerated possession order means the landlord served a Section 21 eviction and the tenant must vacate the property within two months. The landlord does not have to provide a reason.
These ‘no fault’ evictions have accounted for 22,440 repossessions across England and Wales since April 2019, when the Government pledged to ban them in its election manifesto. Meanwhile there were 47% more Section 21 notices served in the three months to June than in the same period last year.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said landlords can ‘too easily use and abuse the current system’, hiking up rents and issuing a Section 21 eviction notice if the tenant cannot pay.
Ms Neate said: “With private rents reaching record highs and no-fault evictions continuing to rise, hundreds of families risk being thrown into homelessness every day. The Renters Reform Bill will make renting more secure, and for those who live in fear of the bailiffs knocking at their door, these changes can’t come soon enough.
“The moment Parliament resumes, the Government must get rid of ‘no-fault’ evictions, which have made the prospect of a stable home little more than a fantasy for England’s 11 million private renters.”
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said its Renters Reform Bill ‘will protect renters by abolishing Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions’.
“We are committed to creating a private rented sector that is fit for the 21st century, which works for responsible landlords while giving tenants greater security in their homes,” a spokesperson added.