Anger as 'no-fault' evictions rise by a third in England

HATE that no-fault evictions in English rental properties rose by A THIRD last year, new figures show.

Landlords have issued 30,230 Section 21 notices – a staggering 50 per cent increase on 2022 and the highest number since 2016.

It comes as ministers have refused to set a date when they will finally implement a long-promised ban on error reporting.

In 2019, Boris Johnson made banning Section 21 a Tory manifesto promise.

But last year Housing Secretary Michael Gove postponed the ban, insisting it cannot come into force until the courts are reformed.

Gove faced pressure to delay reform from Tory MPs, who argued in favor of retaining Section 21.

An eventual full ban is a key part of the government's historic Renters' Reform Bill.

Labour's Shadow Housing Secretary Matthew Pennycook said: “The sharp increase in Section 21 notices last year exposes the devastating impact the Tories' failure to abolish them is having on struggling tenants.

'Nearly 80,000 households have been threatened with homelessness since the Tories first promised to end no-fault evictions almost five years ago.

“If the Tories fail to quickly pass a tenant reform bill that will end no-fault evictions on day one, the next Labor government will get the job done.”

Today MPs and housing activists warned the Tenant Reform Act is on “life support” as ministers have refused to confirm whether it will pass the House of Commons ahead of the expected general election in October.

Commenting on the shocking statistics, Tom Darling, campaign manager for the Renters' Reform Coalition, said: “What a shocking combination – on the day that the figures confirm our fears that the number of 'no-fault' section 21 evictions has seen a huge increase, with all the misery that entails, we hear that the long-awaited Renters Bill is now on life support subjected after is no longer prioritized by the government.

“It is hardly credible that in the face of an escalating eviction and homelessness crisis, we have a government that is slow to act on one of the few policy tools they believe will address the issue – not to mention that they first pledged to end no-fault evictions.

“We are now very concerned that this crucial legislation will not be passed before the election – if it is not it would be a shameful betrayal of England's 11 million private renters.”