Thousands in London issued with ‘no fault’ eviction notices despite proposed ban
Thousands of Londoners have been issued “no fault” eviction notices, despite the government pledging to ban them in 2019.
Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act has allowed private landlords to evict tenants with two months’ notice without having to prove any fault or wrongdoing – with 5,700 city folk receiving them over the last two years, the Evening Standard first reported.
Hillingdon suffered the most Section 21 evictions, during April 2019 and March this year.
Theresa May’s government said it would begin a consultation on no fault evictions, with the look to outlaw them and reset the balance of rights between landlords and tenants, which ended in 2019.
The figure is set to swell as the current government’s White Paper on private rental sector reforms has been pushed back from this autumn until next year.
“The government’s inertia over implementing its reforms to the private rented sector and outlawing these evictions has been shameful and this has had a direct impact on thousands of Londoners,” Labour’s London Assembly housing spokesperson Sem Moema said in a letter to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).
“No fault evictions not only unjustly uproot the lives of too many families and individuals but add to the insurmountable pressures already being placed upon councils.”
Moema has called for a clearer timetable on when Londoners can expect the reforms.
A DLUHC spokesperson said: “We remain committed to delivering a better deal for renters, including repealing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.
“We will continue to engage constructively with stakeholders across the sector as we develop proposals.”