Disturbing update on ‘no fault’ evictions as notices on rentals in England rise by one third – sparking fury
HATED no fault evictions in English rentals shot up by A THIRD last year, new figures show.
Landlords issued 30,230 Section 21 notices - an eyewatering 50 per cent rise on 2022 and the highest number since 2016.
It comes as ministers have refused to put a date on when they will finally implement a long-promised ban on no fault notices.
In 2019 Boris Johnson made outlawing Section 21 a Tory manifesto promise.
But last year Housing Secretary Michael Gove delayed the ban, insisting it can't come into force until courts are reformed.
Mr Gove faced pressure to delay the reform from Tory MP landlords, who argued in favour of keeping Section 21.
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An eventual outright ban is a key component of the government's landmark Renters' Reform Bill.
Labour's Shadow Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook, said: “The stark rise in Section 21 notices served last year lays bare the devastating impact that the Tories’ failure to abolish them is having on hard-pressed renters.
"Nearly 80,000 households have been threatened with homelessness since the Tories first promised to scrap no-fault evictions almost five years ago.
"If the Tories don’t get on and quickly pass a Renters Reform Bill that abolishes no-fault evictions on day one, the next Labour Government will get the job done”.
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Today MPs and housing campaigners warned the Renters Reform Bill is on "life support" as ministers have refused to confirm if it will pass through the Commons ahead of an expected general election in October.
Responding to the shocking stats, Tom Darling, Campaign Manager of the Renters’ Reform Coalition said: “What a shocking juxtaposition – on the day figures confirm our fears that section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions have seen a huge increase, with all the misery that entails, we hear that the long-awaited Renters Bill is now on life-support after being deprioritised by the Government.
“It’s barely believable that against an escalating evictions and homelessness crisis we have a Government slow-walking one of the only policy levers they say will address the issue – not to mention that they first promised to abolish no-fault evictions 5 years ago.
"We are now very concerned this vital legislation won’t get passed before the election – if it doesn’t, it would be an outrageous betrayal of England’s 11 million private renters.”