News10.08.23by Grainne CuffeNo-fault evictions by bailiffs increased by 41% in the past year, according to new Ministry of Justice data.Shelter protest outside parliament against no-fault evictions (picture: Alamy)SharelinesNo-fault evictions up by 41%, new government data shows #UKhousing The data shows that, between April and June 2023, 2,228 households were evicted because of a Section 21, ‘no-fault’, eviction, up from 1,578 households the same quarter last year.
A ban on no-fault evictions, first proposed in April 2019 by Theresa May when she was prime minister, is included in the recently published Renters (Reform) Bill.
It means private landlords – including registered providers – will no longer be able to evict tenants for no reason. However, the ban is yet to be made law and, since it was first proposed, thousands of people have been threatened with or evicted by Section 21 notices.
The government data revealed that 21,332 households have been evicted from their homes by bailiffs since the government first promised the ban.
It showed that private landlords started 7,491 court claims to evict their tenants under Section 21 this quarter, up 35% in a year.
In the past year, 24,060 households were threatened with homelessness as a result of no-fault evictions, up by 21% compared with the previous 12 months.
Shelter, the homelessness charity, is urging the government to prioritise the bill’s progress as soon as parliament returns from recess in September. Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “With private rents reaching record highs and no-fault evictions continuing to rise, hundreds of families risk being thrown into homelessness every day.
“Landlords can too easily use and abuse the current system.
“Some will hike up the rent and if their tenants can’t pay, they will slap them with a no-fault eviction notice and find others who can.
“We speak to renters all the time who feel like they have zero control over their own lives because the threat of eviction is constantly hanging over them.”
She said the bill will make renting “more secure” and “can’t come soon enough”.
“The moment parliament resumes, the government must get rid of no-fault evictions, which have made the prospect of a stable home little more than a fantasy for England’s 11 million private renters,” Ms Neate said.
The Department for Housing, Levelling Up and Communities has been contacted for a response to the figures.
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