Section 21 evictions are at their highest level since June 2016, with 8,425 households in England taken to court under the law between July and September, according to new figures from the Ministry of Justice.
This figure is up from 8,317 in April-June, and the highest since April-June 2016, when 9,330 were affected.
We have been campaigning for the end of Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions for nearly a decade, because the law allows landlords in England to evict their tenant for no reason whatsoever and can kick them out within just two months.
While the new government’s Renters’ Rights Bill will outlaw evictions that are not made with a valid reason, selling the home will be a valid ground for eviction. To reduce the hardship caused by these evictions, we are calling on the government to swiftly introduce longer periods of protection for tenants, and require landlords to compensate tenants forced to move.
In March 2024, then-Chancellor Jeremy Hunt cut capital gains tax on residential property, which appears to have prompted some landlords to put their properties up for sale, and evict their tenants while they cash in on the last government’s decision.
Encouraging landlords to sell when their tenants have no protections and face having to find a new home with no support was an utterly reckless decision by Jeremy Hunt. We warned the Chancellor at the time of the impact that the capital gains tax cut, which would increase levels of homelessness. Today’s numbers show that it has led to yet more renters’ lives being uprooted. While the Renters’ Rights Bill will rightly give tenants four months’ notice to move if their landlord sells up, renters will still have to raid savings or borrow money to fund a move for their landlord’s convenience.
We estimate that the average private renter household must find £2216 to fund a move, which can be a significant hardship, on top of the stress of uprooting one’s life. Waiving the final two months’ rent when evicting to sell or move in would reduce the harm on tenants.
The Welsh Parliament has already taken an interest in exploring this proposal, and we encourage governments across the UK to consider it in their efforts to reduce debt, poverty and homelessness.
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