Victory! Government pledges to scrap Section 21
The End Unfair Evictions coalition is celebrating a campaign victory today as the government announced its plans to abolish “no-fault evictions” under Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act and introduce open-ended tenancies for private renters in England.
At present Section 21 allows landlords to evict tenants without giving a reason, making possible revenge evictions, where renters lose their homes after asking for repairs or making complaints. Since 2015, some 140,000 tenants have been victims of Section 21 revenge evictions. Section 21 is the leading cause of homelessness in England.
Here’s how the coalition partners reacted…
“Deposit-free” products: definitely not free and less protection for renters.
“Deposit-free” schemes on the market can cost as much as £864 for a two year tenancy in non-refundable costs to tenants, new product analysis and cost comparison by Generation Rent shows. And if the landlord makes a claim for deductions at the end of the tenancy, that figure can rise much higher.
Fareham Unison back End Section 21
Fareham Unison have become the first trade union branch in the country to back the End Section 21 campaign.
At an AGM of Fareham Unison members, there was a unanimous vote to support the campaign and to call on Regional Officers with Unison to put their weight behind the campaign too.
If you’re a member of a union branch, local political party or other membership organisation and want to support the campaign you can find our model motion here.
Tenants Union UK join the coalition!
We are delighted to announce that Tenants Union UK have officially joined the campaign to abolish section 21.
Founded in 2016, Tenants Union UK are a membership organisation, that “build powerful relationships between renters and tenants and create housing justice through education, advocacy, leadership development and local organising”.
Sign up for our local elections campaign
In less than 9 weeks time voters will be going to the polls to elect their local councillor. These elected representatives get a say in how local services are ran and licensing requirements for the local private rented sector. We want to make sure that local councillors know that private renters in their area want to abolish section 21.
That’s why across the country we will be running local campaigns to let candidates of all parties know how we feel. We will be writing to all candidates, asking questions at local husting events and speaking to voters in our high streets to get the message out there.
More local councils call on government to #EndSection21
As 2018 draws to a close, the pressure on government to scrap Section 21 no-fault evictions continues to grow.
What is Section 21 and why does it need to be scrapped?
Landlords can remove tenants without giving a reason. That’s unfair and it needs to change.
Most of England’s 11 million renters are on contracts with fixed terms of six months or a year; after this period has ended, landlords can evict their tenants with just two months’ notice – and without even giving them a reason. These ‚Äòno fault evictions’ were introduced under section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act. Before this, private tenants had much greater security and it was much harder for landlords to evict tenants who paid the rent on time and looked after the property. The government has finally decided to consult on ways of improving renter security, but – while there are some promising aspects to their proposals – they suggest that no-fault evictions will remain. Generation Rent, the New Economics Foundation, ACORN and the London Renters Union are launching a campaign to abolish section 21.
MPs debated Section 21 – here’s what they had to say
On Thursday 6th December our campaign to end unfair evictions reached the Houses of Parliament.
Labour MP Karen Buck, in partnership with the End Unfair Evictions campaign, sponsored a Westminster Hall parliamentary debate on the problems pertaining to Section 28 evictions. MPs came together to share horror stories from their constituents of evictions as well as discuss the larger power imbalances born of the constant threat of eviction many tenants live with.
Section 21: Terrible for tenants and lengthy for landlords in court
Our campaign to end unfair evictions has caught the attention of Parliament. On Thursday, MPs are debating “the use of Section 21 evictions in the private rented sector”.
We’re calling for the abolition of Section 21, and the government is considering responses to its proposed three-year tenancies. This is the first opportunity MPs will have to air their views on reform, and quiz the Housing Minister, Heather Wheeler, on her department’s proposals. We’ll get a sense of what there is cross-party support for.
Ahead of the debate, we wanted to take a look at what we know about evictions and their extent. It’s important to note that the problems with Section 21 go far beyond the basic number of evictions. The threat of a no-fault eviction discourages tenants from treating the property as their long term home, and even from complaining about disrepair.
Life after Section 21
Today is the 30th anniversary of the Housing Act 1988 receiving Royal Assent and becoming law. The Act introduced the assured shorthold tenancy, and, with it, Section 21, the ability for landlords to evict without needing a reason.
As part of the End Unfair Evictions campaign we are calling for Section 21 to be scrapped, and demanded this in our response to the government’s recent consultation on longer tenancies. In our response we also set out how the private rental market should work once Section 21 is history.