Scrapping ‘no-fault evictions’ a groundbreaking shake-up of the private rented sector
Citizens Advice has responded to the government’s announcement that it will consult on scrapping section 21 “no-fault” evictions in the private rented sector.
Gillian Guy, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice, said:
“Scrapping no-fault evictions is a groundbreaking shake-up of the private rented sector and will better protect the almost 5 million households who live in it.
“It means renters - including families - will be able to put down stable roots where they live and prevent landlords from evicting tenants for simply complaining.”
Background
Citizens Advice helped nearly 200,000 people with housing problems last year - almost 60,000 of those in the private-rented sector.
Our research found more than 2 in 5 tenants say fear of eviction prevents them talking to their landlord about disrepair.
Tenants who made a formal complaint to either their local authority or to a redress scheme had a 46% chance of being issued with a section 21 eviction notice in the following 6 months, our research from March 2018 found.
We found revenge evictions have affected 141,000 tenants since laws attempting to ban revenge evictions were introduced in 2015.
Nearly half of tenants (44%) who experienced delays in getting repairs done by their landlord said fear of eviction would stop them from continuing to negotiate about the disrepair.
There are 1.7 million families with dependent children renting privately, according to the English Housing Survey.
Notes to editors
Citizens Advice includes the national charity; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.
Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and post. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers.
The Citizens Advice Witness Service provides free, independent support for prosecution and defence witnesses in every criminal court in England and Wales.
Citizens Advice offers Pension Wise services at 500 locations in England and Wales.
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To get advice online or find your local Citizens Advice, visit citizensadvice.org.uk
For consumer advice, call the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 or 03454 04 05 05 to talk in Welsh.
We helped 2.6 million people face to face, by phone, email and webchat in 2017-18. For service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.
Citizens Advice staff are supported by over 23,000 trained volunteers, working at over 2,500 locations in England and Wales.