Generation Rent

It is less than a month since we launched our joint campaign - with ACORN, the New Economics Foundation and the London Renters Union - to end section 21 no-fault evictions, and we've already had some major successes. 

Here are four things we can celebrate already.

This motion can be adapted for use at meetings of councils, and political party or union branches. 

A version of this motion has been passed by the following organisations (please contact us if your branch passes this motion so that we can update the list!):

- Forest of Dean Council (4.4.19)

- Swindon Council (4.4.19)

- Merton Council (3.4.19)

- Redbridge Council (21.3.19)

- Milton Keynes Council (20.3.19)

- Lambeth Borough Council (23.1.19)

- Lewisham Borough Council (28.11.18)

- Southwark Borough Council (28.11.18)

- Brent Borough Council (26.11.18)

- Cambridge City Council (18.10.18)

- Croydon Borough Council (8.10.18)

- London Assembly (proposed by Sian Berry, Green Party, and Tom Copley, Labour Party, 5.7.2018)

- Hackney South Constituency Labour Party (11.9.18)

- Leyton and Wanstead Constituency Labour Party (12.9.18)

- Walthamstow West branch Labour Party (9.7.2018)

- Mildmay branch Labour Party, Islington North (August 2018)

- Forest branch Labour Party, Leyton and Wanstead (3.9.2018)

- Dudden Hill branch Labour Party, Brent Central (6.9.18)

- Leyton branch Labour Party, Leyton and Wanstead (10.9.18)

- Leytonstone branch Labour party, Leyton and Wanstead (10.9.18)

- Grove Green branch Labour party, Leyton and Wanstead (10.9.18)

- Fareham Unison Branch (13.03.19)

Contemporary motion for 2018 Labour Party conference

Abolish no-fault evictions, the leading cause of homelessness

Conference notes:

• That most of England’s 11 million renters are on tenancies with fixed terms of six months or a year; after this period has ended, landlords can evict their tenants with just two months’ notice, without giving them a reason. These ‘no fault evictions’ were introduced under Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act; before this, renters had much greater security and it was difficult for landlords to evict tenants who paid the rent on time and looked after the property.
• That on Sunday August 19th, The Observer published research by campaign group Generation Rent showing that Section 21 evictions are now the single biggest cause of homelessness in England.
• In Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden (among other countries), tenancies are indefinite, meaning blameless tenants cannot be evicted from their homes.
• In 2017, the Scottish government made tenancies indefinite and banned no-fault evictions under the terms of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016.

Conference believes:

• Mass homelessness is a national disgrace, and removing its leading causes should be a priority for an incoming Labour government.
• Alongside tackling homelessness, abolishing Section 21 no-fault evictions would help to make renting more secure, improve standards and increase tenant confidence.

We resolve:

• To work with the Unfair Evictions Campaign led by Generation Rent, the New Economics Foundation, ACORN and the London Renters Union.
• That the next Labour government should abolish Section 21 no-fault evictions.

(232 words)

Ordinary motion for party or union branches

End unfair evictions - abolish Section 21 of 1988 Housing Act

This branch notes:

- Due to high house prices and the lack of sufficient social housing, the proportion of people renting privately has doubled since 2004; half of 18-35s, 1 in 4 families with children, and growing numbers of older people now live in privately rented homes[1].

- Most of England’s 11 million renters are on tenancies with fixed terms of six months or a year; after this period has ended, landlords can evict their tenants with just two months’ notice, without giving them a reason. These ‘no fault evictions’ were introduced under section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act; before this, renters had much greater security and it was difficult for landlords to evict tenants who paid the rent on time and looked after the property.

- Evictions are the number one cause of homelessness[2]. 80% of evictions are on no-fault grounds[3], and 63% of private renters who were forced to move in 2016 were evicted not due to any fault of their own but because the landlord wanted to sell or use the property[4].

- Insecurity harms quality of life for tenants, with private renters less likely than either owners or people in council housing to say they know lots of people in their local area, but more worried that they will have to move within the next year. The threat of being evicted also gives landlords huge power over tenants, who may decide not to complain about disrepair, big rent increases or other problems in case they are kicked out[5].

- In Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden (among other countries), tenancies are indefinite, meaning blameless tenants cannot be evicted from their homes.[6]

- In 2017, the Scottish government made tenancies indefinite and banned no-fault evictions under the terms of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016[7].

- The End Unfair Evictions campaign run by Generation Rent, ACORN, the New Economics Foundation and the London Renters Union, and launched in June 2018.

- Along with the nearly 50000 people who had, by mid-July 2018, signed the 38 Degrees petition[8] to abolish section 21, a growing number of groups and individuals support abolition, including Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn[9], the Times newspaper[10], the London Assembly[11], the Resolution Foundation[12] and Age UK[13].

This branch believes:

- Abolishing section 21 would help to make renting more secure, improve standards, increase tenant confidence and ultimately contribute towards making renting a viable long-term alternative to home ownership or social rent for the millions who currently cannot access either.

- Since insecure tenancies make it difficult for renters to complain and organise for their rights, removing section 21 would make it easier for new renter unions like the London Renters Union and ACORN to organise to defend their members.

This branch resolves to:

- Work with the End Unfair Evictions Campaign led by Generation Rent, the New Economics Foundation, ACORN, London Renters Union, and Tenants Union UK including by publicising campaign events and activities as appropriate.

- Share the End Unfair Evictions petition and campaign video on social media channels and via email.

- Call on the member of parliament / union regional officer, to publicly state his/her support for the abolition of section 21.

- Call on the party / union leadership to make abolition of section 21 a manifesto / policy commitment.

[1] English Housing Survey 2016-17

[2] ‘Record numbers left homeless after eviction by private landlords in England’, The Guardian, 28.9.16

[3] ‘How eviction leads to homelessness: “My youngest child doesn’t know what a home is”’, The Guardian, 8.1.18

[4] ‘The state of private renting’, Inside Housing, 2.8.17

[5] ‘Insecure tenancies drag down quality of life’, Generation Rent, 3.11.17

[6] ‘Home Improvements’, The Resolution Foundation, 2018

[7] ‘Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016’, legislation.gov.uk: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2016/19/contents/enacted 

[8] ‘End Unfair Evictions’, 38 Degrees, https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/end-unfair-evictions-abolish-section-21

[9] ‘Jeremy Corbyn pledges to scrap 'no fault' evictions to tip housing rules back in favour of renters’, The Independent, 27.11.17

[10] ‘Let Off”, The Times, 16.6.18: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/let-off-s8h7gb5h6

[11] ‘Stop landlords evicting tenants without reason’, London Assembly, 5.7.18: https://www.london.gov.uk/press-releases/assembly/stop-landlords-evicting-tenants-without-reason

[12] ‘Home improvements: action to address the housing challenges faced by young people’, The Resolution Foundation, 17.4.18: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/home-improvements-action-to-address-the-housing-challenges-faced-by-young-people/

[13] ‘”Living in Fear” – experiences of older private renters in London’, London Age UK, September 2017: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/bp-assets/globalassets/london/documents/older-private-renters/living-in-fear.pdf

After reports in the Sunday papers, late yesterday afternoon the Ministry of Housing published its long-awaited consultation paper on "Overcoming Barriers to Longer Tenancies in the Private Rented Sector".

It allows us a moment to celebrate the first success of the End Unfair Evictions campaign: an acceptance by the government that private tenancy law is failing England's tenants - just as our petition passes 40,000 signatures. 

Leaving the detail of the policy to one side for now, it is significantly the first time the government has considered a change to tenancy law. Up to now ministers have been talking of merely "encouraging" landlords to offer better terms - while most landlords might do this, a lot of tenants would get no benefit. We have been arguing that we need full reform and, while incentives are still an option, mandatory reform is now on the table.

This week we launched the End Unfair Evictions coalition with ACORN, London Renters Union, and New Economics Foundation. We're calling for an end to Section 21, which allows landlords to evict tenants without needing a reason. 

One reason we're doing is that existing protections are not working in practice.

Back in 2014/15, we fought a hard campaign alongside Shelter, GMB Young London and others to give tenants basic protection from eviction when they complained about their landlord. 

The resulting measures in the Deregulation Act 2015 stopped landlords from serving a Section 21 eviction notice to tenants if the council had found hazards in the property and served an appropriate improvement notice on the owner. This protection lasted for 6 months and was meant to give tenants more confidence in getting their landlord to fix health and safety problems, because the landlord can no longer simply retaliate by kicking them out.

Two million tenants in London will welcome the fact that getting a fairer deal for private renters is one of the Mayor of London’s five priorities for housing in the London Housing Strategy, which was published at the end of May. Given that Sadiq Khan’s housing powers are highly limited, what is his strategy promising to private renters in London?

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 ‘no 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.

This week we’ve had two reports from the political mainstream calling for a better deal for renters. They add to the pressure we’ve been putting on the government to improve tenant security – and though we contributed to both, they don’t quite go as far as we’d like.

The first was from the Resolution Foundation, a think tank chaired by Conservative peer David Willetts and run by Torsten Bell, previously adviser to former Labour leader Ed Miliband. 

The big news in today's Budget was the abolition of stamp duty for most first-time buyers. 

From today if you buy your first home you'll pay nothing to the government on the first £300,000 (unless it costs more than £500,000 and you need to be super-rich before you're in that territory).

Most debates around housing focus on young adults, the drastic fall in their rate of home ownership and ways to boost the number of first time buyers.

Far less attention, however, is given to the vast numbers of renters who are already too old to get a mortgage and face a lifetime of renting instead. As more of them reach retirement age, the state will start paying more of their rent, and faces enormous costs unless it makes some fundamental changes to the housing market. Because politicians only operate with 5-year horizons, few are fretting about the implications of lifetime renting.

But we are, and today we publish a report co-authored with David Adler of Oxford University: Life in the Rental Market.

An intriguing exchange in the House of Commons this week may contain clues about the government's big forthcoming announcement of reforms to tenancies. 

During a debate on temporary accommodation, the backbench Conservative MP Bob Blackman said this:

The greatest cause of homelessness is the end of an assured shorthold tenancy. They usually run for six months and at the end of that period families often have to move. The solution is clear: we need longer tenancies and more security of tenure for families, but also assurances to landlords that they will get paid their rent and that the tenants will behave themselves in accordance with the contract they have signed. I ask the Minister to update us on where we are going with lengthening tenancies, which would dramatically reduce homelessness at a stroke. Perhaps we can do that.