No-fault evictions to be banned in reform of rental sector

Morenike Jotham received a no-fault eviction notice while renting in London

Landlords would be banned from evicting tenants with no justification as part of a long-promised overhaul of the private rental sector in England.

A new law tabled in Parliament would abolish no-fault evictions and end bans on tenants claiming benefits.

The bill would also make it easier for landlords to repossess properties from anti-social tenants.

Housing campaigners said the bill was a "huge opportunity" but warned it risked creating loopholes for eviction.

Under the new law, tenants would be given the legal right to request to keep a pet in their home, which the landlord cannot unreasonably refuse.

The law would also make it illegal for a landlord to refuse tenancies to families with children, or those in receipt of benefits.

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The Conservatives promised "a better deal for renters" - including a ban on no-fault evictions - in its manifesto ahead of the general election in 2019.

What is a no-fault eviction?

A key piece of housing legislation, known as Section 21, allows landlords to evict tenants without giving a reason.

After receiving a Section 21 notice, tenants have just two months before their landlord can apply for a court order to evict them.

Under the reforms, landlords will only be able to evict tenants in certain circumstances, including when they wish to sell the property or when they or a close family member want to move in, after six months.

However, after a three-month period they will be free to put the property back on the rental market.

Housing charity Shelter is calling for these time periods to increase, and for the notice period for evictions to increase from two months to four months.

It also pointed out that under the current proposals, renters who receive a possession notice will no longer have the right to immediate help from their council to avoid homelessness.

The bill also makes it easier for landlords to repossess their properties in cases of anti-social behaviour or where the tenant repeatedly fails to pay rent.

Last year, research by Shelter, a housing charity, said nearly 230,000 private renters had been served with a no-fault eviction notice since April 2019.

Among those to be issued with such a notice was Sam Robinson and his family, partner Amy Herbert, and daughters Phoebe, 10, and Amelia, four.

Sam Robinson and his family were issued with a Section 21 notice

The family rented a property in Greater Manchester for about five years.

They never missed a rental payment, and were happy with the property, until problems with mould and a leaking roof became progressively worse.

Mr Robinson said he reported the issue, and a few days after the property was inspected by the landlord, they were issued a Section 21 notice.

"I was heartbroken, I didn't know what to say to my partner," Mr Robinson said. "We'd made a family home there. We were there for the long term."

Now the family are paying more rent after moving to another property near Manchester earlier this year.

Have you found it difficult to rent a property because you have children or pets? Have you been issued a Section 21 notice? Are you a landlord with views on this story?

Morenike Jotham, who lives in the London suburb of Streatham, has also had bad experiences.

Ms Jotham said when she tried to enter negotiations with her previous landlord about a proposed rent increase last year, they responded by issuing a Section 21 notice.

She had tried to challenge the proposed rent increase, from £550 to £700 a month, because of the state of the house. She claimed there were boiler issues, faulty pipes and a mouse infestation.

She shared the flat with five other people for two years, including during an intense cold snap in February 2021 when, according to Ms Jotham, the boiler was not functioning.

"We all had blankets wrapped around us," Ms Jotham said. "We were all staying in the living room to preserve heat. It was really, really difficult."

Ms Jotham, a paralegal, eventually moved out of the flat in September 2022 and into a different rented house in the same area.

'Unintended consequences'

Housing campaigners have long called for tenants to be given the right to safe, secure and affordable homes, free from arbitrary evictions and escalating rent increases.

But other campaigners, as well as some Conservative MPs, have warned the bill could force more landlords to leave the market and reduce the supply of rental properties.

Tory MP Craig Mackinlay, who is also a landlord, said the bill could have "unintended consequences".

He told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme that landlords had already been hit by extra regulations and higher interest rates and many could choose to sell up as a result of the legislation.

Siobhan Donnachie, spokeswoman for the London Renters Union, said there was nothing in the bill banning "the huge and unfair rent increases our members are facing".

She said: "A 20% rent hike is simply a no-fault eviction under a different name."

The bill will allow tenants to challenge above-market rate rent increases through a tribunal but landlords will still be able to raise rents annually to market prices.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove said the bill would make sure renters are "protected from the very small minority of rogue landlords who use the threat of no-fault eviction to silence tenants who want to complain about poor conditions".

He told BBC Newsbeat he hoped the bill would become law by the end of the year.

Mr Gove said the bill was also "a good deal for landlords", who would be able to quickly evict tenants who are anti-social or persistently fail to pay their rent.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his party broadly supported the government's plans but that they could have been carried out more quickly.

Labour has promised to introduce a four-month notice period for landlords, a national register of landlords, and the right to make alterations to rented properties.

Landlord pushback

Landlords have expressed concerns about some of the reforms promised in the bill.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said landlords needed to be confident "they will be able to repossess their properties as quickly as possible".

"Without this assurance, the bill will only exacerbate the rental housing supply crisis many tenants now face," Mr Beadle said.

He said he welcomed a pledge, also in the bill, to ensure landlords can recover properties from anti-social tenants and those failing to pay rent.

But he added "more detail is needed if the bill is going to work as intended".

The government said the bill will legislate to:

• Empower a new ombudsman to provide quicker and cheaper resolutions to tenancy disputes

• Set up a new online portal, including a database of landlords, to help tenants make better decisions when signing a new tenancy agreement

• Apply the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector to improve the quality of homes

• Strengthen councils' enforcement powers to help target criminal landlords

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