No-fault evictions in England ‘soaring out of control’, say campaigners

Private renters have faced a “shocking” surge in no-fault evictions since July with more landlords taking possession claims to court than at any time in the past seven years.

The use of the so-called section 21 eviction notices, which landlords can deliver without tenants doing anything wrong, jumped 38% on the previous year. The figures come after the government again stalled a long-promised move to ban the practice, claiming that the courts are not ready to handle a new system. The homelessness charity Crisis said on Thursday it feared the delay could now “take years”.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice show the number of no-fault evictions taken to court in England rose to 8,399 from July to September. The court threat is often enough for tenants to quit, but bailiffs executed 2,307 section 21 evictions in that period – the most since before the pandemic.

Private rent campaigners said the figures showed the use of no-fault evictions was “soaring out of control while the government continues to appease landlords”. It is likely that a 29% increase in buy-to-let mortgage arrears among private landlords on the last quarter and a rush to get no-fault evictions through before any ban comes in are helping drive the increase.

“These figures are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Tom Darling, campaign manager of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, who described them as “shocking”. “The vast majority of renters will not fight their eviction notice in court, so the real human cost will be exponentially higher. Amidst this crisis it beggars belief that the government hasn’t set a date for when we can expect an end to no-fault evictions. They must do so immediately.”

A ban was first promised by the Conservative government in April 2019 and it is included in the renters reform bill, which was in Tuesday’s King’s speech. But Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, has said the ban will not come into effect until court changes are complete – possibly not until close to the general election, which could be another year from now.

On Wednesday, Clive Betts, the chair of the Commons levelling up, housing and communities select committee, urged Gove to stop “kicking the can down the road on private rental reform and seeking to make flimsy excuses for delaying introducing the provision to ban ‘no fault’ evictions”.

Demanding a clear timetable for reform, he said: “Tenants and landlords deserve that clarity and assurance.”

Responding to the latest court figures, Polly Neate, the chief executive of the housing and homelessness charity Shelter, said: “It beggars belief that this government is prepared to use cynical tactics to delay the banning of no-fault evictions, while record numbers of renters are being removed from their homes without cause.”

Section 21 evictions are known to be a major contributing factor to rising homelessness, although their abolition is expected to come alongside greater powers for landlords to evict tenants over antisocial behaviour, if the renters reform bill becomes law, as expected, in the coming months.

Landlords said they are using section 21 evictions because “it currently takes an average of almost 29 weeks for courts to process possession cases where they are required to give a reason”.

Chris Norris, the policy director for the National Residential Landlords Association, said the increase “comes at a time when landlords are under growing financial strain, with many deciding to sell up”.