Almost 1 MILLION renters served eviction notices for no reason since gov vowed to ban shady practice – check your rights
ALMOST a MILLION renters have been slapped with hated no-fault eviction notices since ministers promised to ban them five years ago.
New analysis from housing charity Shelter and YouGov shows that since 2019, the equivalent of 500 tenants a day have been booted from their home for no reason.
It comes as the Office for National Statistics this week found average rents have soared by £107 per month.
Unwanted private rental moves in England are costing an
eye-watering £550 million per year – with renters shelling out on average £669 in unrecoverable costs for every forced move.
In the last 12 months alone residents had to unwillingly pack their belongings 830,000 times.
Nearly 190,000 were served with a legal eviction notice, while 135,000 were informally asked to go by their landlord.
The shocking stats come just weeks after The Sun revealed that Michael Gove has caved to Tory landlord backbenchers and watered down long-promised rent reforms.
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A ban on hated no-fault evictions is now only expected to apply to less than a tenth tenants before the next general election.
New tenancy contracts will see renters protected from section 21 notices.
But existing tenancies will have to wait until the Ministry of Justice conducts a review into the “readiness of courts” to handle disputes stemming from the change.
Your rights as a renter
YOU can fight a no-fault eviction through the courts, and usually get free legal advice.
Seek help as soon as you’re served a notice, to give you time to build a case.
The Government’s Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service provides early legal support on housing issues.
Look for a local provider at find-legal-advice.justice.gov.uk.
The court can only void an eviction notice if it’s “invalid”, so your best bet is to prove it doesn’t meet the right criteria, advises housing charity Shelter.
For example, landlords must use Form 6A to issue a notice.
Nothing else is valid.
You must also be given two months’ notice to move out and it must be at least four months since the start of your original tenancy.
Reagan Jones, director of compliance at rental service Zero Deposit, says: “If your landlord doesn’t apply to the courts within six months of issuing a Section 21 notice, it becomes invalid and they will need to repeat the initial process.”
Unresolved issues with your home can also help your case.
Mr Jones adds: “A lack of a working smoke alarm or carbon- monoxide alarm could render a Section 21 invalid, among other property-related issues.
“Your landlord may have failed to give you electrical and gas-check certificates, illegally charged you fees or evicted you following a complaint you’ve made about the property,” he adds.
The security deposit on your home must be in a protected tenancy deposit scheme from when you move in.
WHAT IF MY NOTICE IS VALID?
THERE are still other ways to challenge being evicted.
Speak to your landlord and see if there’s room for negotiation, Mr Jones advises.
Most should be willing to negotiate and be flexible to give you time to find a new home.
Mr Jones adds: “If you do opt to remain in the property beyond your eviction date, you’ll be given an opportunity to voice your side of the story in the court process which can ultimately influence whether or not a possession order is granted.”
The Renters’ Reform Bill is set to return to the Commons after months of delay next week.
In a separate blow the period by which tenants can end a tenancy has been extended from two to six months, giving landlords more protection.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Tenants are coughing up millions in unwanted and unwarranted moves, while the government runs scared of a minority of its own MPs.
“Instead of striking dodgy deals with backbenchers to strangle the Renters Reform Bill, Ministers should defend renters’ best hope of a stable home.
“With protections from eviction so weak and rents so high, we constantly hear from people forced out of their homes and communities at huge personal cost.
“It’s impossible for renters to put down roots knowing a no-fault eviction could plunge them back into chaos at any moment.”
Ministers must fix England's broken rental system
By Polly Neate, Chief Executive of Shelter
Moving home is stressful. Every time you move it costs a lot of money. Two hundred quid for a removal van, fifty for packing boxes, hundreds on new furniture, the list goes on. That’s money you never get back.
So, imagine having to move 12 times in 21 years when you didn’t want to? That’s what happened to Natalie, a renter who in the last 18 months was slapped with two no fault evictions – giving her just two months to find a new home and forcing her to fork out yet more cash on moving.
At Shelter we hear from renters all the time who say living in private renting is holding them back in life. Hundreds of thousands of renters are being forced to move home every year when they don’t want to, and it’s costing them millions. That’s money that could be spent on a deposit for a house or saved for the future. It’s not fair, and it shouldn’t be this way.
Landlords shouldn’t be able to kick you out for no reason. The government knows this, and that’s why it’s been promising since 2019 to get rid of no-fault evictions and end fixed term rental tenancies.
Its “landmark” Renters Reform Bill was designed to stop renters like Natalie having to move home so much, while still allowing landlords to get their property back if they have a good reason, like wanting to sell or move family in. But instead, the government has caved to a small number of MPs in its own party – many of them landlords – and left the Bill in tatters. It’s cowardly that the government would rather betray England’s 11 million renters, than stand up to its own MPs.
Without big changes to beef the Bill back up, renters’ lives and their bank balances will carry on being wrecked by unwanted home moves. The government must fix this and deliver a Bill that truly improves the lives of tenants. If they don’t, they will no doubt pay the price at the ballot box come the next election.