Press release from , Liberal Democrat MP for
Bath
pledged to end Section 21, or
‘no fault’, eviction notices in April 2019. Since 2019, 5,770
households have been put at risk of homelessness in the South
West because of them according to research from the House of
Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats.
The data also showed that last year, of all the 13,590 households
at risk of homelessness in the region, 18% of them were at risk
because of a valid Section 21 notice. In Bath and North East
Somerset the proportion of households at risk of homelessness
because of a “no-fault” eviction was 21%. The Library also noted
that the figures do not likely capture the total number of
households at risk of homelessness as the figures only apply to
people who have asked their local authority for support.
The research comes as last week it was reported there could be a
potential Conservative rebellion against the Renters Reform Bill
which will finally outlaw Section 21s which may involve around 30
MPs, many of whom are landlords.
Further comments have been made by Tory MPs this week with , MP for South Thanet, who
is a landlord, saying the legislation is attempting to solve a
“mischief that didn’t exist”. Mackinley plans to make a speech in
the Commons on the Bill and could not confirm whether he would
vote for it.
, MP for North Dudley, who is
also a landlord, said the Renters Reform Bill was “well meaning”
but abolishing Section 21 could “damage renters” in the long run.
It has also been reported that a former Cabinet minister said “a
lot of colleagues” were unhappy about scrapping Section 21s.
has previously buckled to a
housing related rebellion led by Therese Villers who got the
government to back down from enforcing national housing
targets.
, Liberal Democrat MP for
Bath, commented:
“The Prime Minister cannot allow this Bill to be watered down in
the slightest. He needs to buck his instincts for weakness, stand
up to any pressure from his backbenchers and give renters the
protections that they deserve.
“Vulnerable renters may finally have the continual anxiety of a
potential Section 21 notice lifted off their shoulders. They have
done so much damage and need to become a thing of the past.
“This data is a stark reminder why this Bill cannot be allowed to
fail and must not be watered down. 37 households a week in our
region, including families and vulnerable people, are put at risk
of being on the street with nowhere to turn thanks to these cruel
eviction notices. It must come to an end and the Renters Reform
Bill needs to be the place where this happens.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
The data from the House of Commons Library can be found here.
Notes from the House of Commons Library
The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC)
publishes data on the number of households owed a prevention or
relief duty for homelessness by their local authority, in
response to the Homelessness Reduction
Act of 2017.
Assessments are carried out by local authorities of people who
report to be at risk of becoming homeless. The local authority
can then decide whether the household is indeed at risk of
homelessness in the next 56 days, and thus is owed a prevention
duty. The local authority also records the number of households
at risk of becoming homeless (within 56 days) because they have
been issued a Section 21 notice (a no-fault eviction notice).
This doesn’t refer to the actual number of households
experiencing homelessness due to a no-fault eviction.
Please note that this likely doesn’t capture the total number of
households at risk of homelessness as it only applies to people
who have asked their local authority for support. Furthermore,
households may apply for assistance more than once, and be
counted multiple times. As these responsibilities came into
effect from the Act in 2017, data are only available from 2018.
The spreadsheet shows the number of households who were owed a
prevention duty, after an initial assessment for homelessness –
meaning they were assessed as being at risk of homelessness
within 56 days. Also shown is the number of households who were
assessed to be at risk of homelessness within 56 days due to
being issued a Section 21 notice (no-fault eviction notice), and
these households as a percentage of all households at risk of
homelessness within 56 days.
Reported Conservative Discontent
Reported Conservative discontent with the Renters Reform Bill can
be found here and here.
