Last week the government tabled a Bill that could bring about a huge power shift in the private rented sector.
The Renters (Reform) Bill will make good on a Conservative manifesto commitment to abolish ‘no-fault’ evictions, which are currently permitted under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.
Campaigners have pressed for the abolition of section 21 evictions for many years, and in 2019, the policy was adopted first by the Labour party and then also by the Conservatives. However, despite it been mentioned in several queen’s speeches, the government has dragged its feet on moving the policy forward, until now.
Under section 21, landlords can currently evict tenants without giving a reason. Once the landlord has served a section 21 notice, tenants have only two months before the landlord can apply for a court order to evict them.
Under the new bill, these no-fault section 21 evictions will be abolished. However, to safeguard landlords, the Bill will strengthen powers to evict ‘anti-social tenants’, enabling the landlord to take possession if the tenant engages in ‘any behaviour capable of causing nuisance or annoyance’. Some experts have argued that the wording of this is too favourable to landlords, as the tenant’s behaviour only needs to be ‘capable of’ causing nuisance, not actually having done so.
The new Bill also makes clear that landlords will be able to evict tenants when they want to sell the property, or when they or a close family member want to move in, after six months.
So how big a deal is the scrapping of no-fault evictions? In short, it’s huge. It gives far greater security to renters, and removes a massive power imbalance that was having a considerable knock-on effect on living conditions. When I’ve spoken to housing lawyers in the past, they’ve told me how the threat of a section 21 notice makes it very difficult for tenants to complain about poor standards, or to resist rent increases. Those who do so will simply find themselves replaced – especially in a market in which there are already too few rental properties, and too many people looking for accommodation. Such ‘retaliatory evictions’ are theoretically banned, but common in practice. This is born out by recent research by charity Shelter, which has found that private tenants who complain to their landlord about disrepair are more than twice as likely to be given an eviction notice.
But while it’s obvious that living without the constant threat of a no-fault eviction is better for tenants on the face of it, what is less clear is how the private rented sector will be affected as a whole. Is this change significant enough to make landlords want to leave the market; and if so, could a fall in the number of rented properties mean that rents are actually pushed even higher? That is one argument against the abolition of section 21 evictions. But I am personally not convinced. If a tenant is doing anything remotely antisocial; if they are behind on their rent, or if the landlord wants to sell up or to make the property available to a close family member, then the tenant can still be evicted. But if all they have done is to ask for a property to be maintained to a decent standard, then they cannot. That strikes me as a fair balance, and one that should not deter reputable landlords.
May 23, 2023
Insights
