No-fault eviction notice is exhausting, says mum

Francesca and Neil were told to vacate their property in May after receiving a Section 21 notice

A couple with a disabled child have described the stress of being served with an eviction notice under a law that will soon be changed.

Francesca, 38, has lived with her family in a rented house in Witham, Essex, for the past five years, but in May received a Section 21 notice that allows landlords to evict tenants without a reason within eight weeks.

The government is preparing to ban Section 21 "no-fault" evictions as part of the new Renters' Rights Bill, which is in the final stages of being passed by Parliament.

Francesca's son Blair has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (a type of epilepsy), learning difficulties and is autistic, and she said the last thing the family needed to do was move house.

At home six-year-old Blair sleeps in an adapted bed, which requires specialist contractors to move and cannot easily be relocated.

"It is exhausting. Everything has to be a risk assessment," the mother-of-three said.

The family's landlord did not give them a reason for the eviction

After being given two months to leave the property, Francesca successfully applied for an extension from Chelmsford County Court.

When the Renters' Rights Bill becomes law, landlords will have to give specific reasons for terminating a tenancy, such as rent arrears, breaches of the tenancy contract, intention to sell the property or the landlord (or a close family member) wanting to move in.

Francesca believed the new legislation could have made a difference to their situation and possibly given them legal grounds to challenge the eviction.

"It would have taken the stress out of a lot of this process," she said.

"I didn't know why [the owner] was doing it. If I knew why she was doing it, if she needed the money, if her mortgage had gone up or something, we could say 'oh, we could give you a bit extra to be able to stay that bit longer'," she added.

The family's landlord declined the BBC's invitation to comment.

Blair uses a custom-built bed to keep him safe, which requires specialist contractors to move

The National Residential Landlords Association said communication and collaboration was key in situations such as the one Francesca's family finds themselves in.

Chris Norris, its director of policy, said: "We do urge landlords to be as understanding as possible when residents in a rental property have additional needs."

Chris Norris said communication between tenants and landlords was "key"

Tarun Bhakta, from the housing campaign group Shelter, said the government "really" needed to pass the bill as "soon as possible".

"A broken private rental system with no-fault evictions is really at the core of what has been fuelling record homelessness for years now," said Mr Bhakta.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: "Cases like Blair's family underline the misery which Section 21 has caused to millions of renters across the country - and reform is long overdue.

"That's why we are banning Section 21... so we can protect tenants and give them housing security."