Section 21 “no fault” evictions will remain
The Government has confirmed that changes to the current system for repossessing properties “will not take place until we judge sufficient progress has been made to improve the courts.” It continues: “That means we will not proceed with the abolition of Section 21, until reforms to the justice system are in place.”
This follows extreme pressure from the industry and a large exodus of landlords from the market, after the details of the proposed Renters Reform Bill were publicised.
It has now been recognised that until the court system has capacity to deal with evictions in a timely manner and until the Section 8 notice to quit has been modified, it would be unfair to prevent the use of the section 21 no fault eviction.
It is clearly a good thing to protect tenants from unscrupulous landlords, but equally it is vital to protect landlords. The premise that all landlords are wealthy property owners with multiple properties should be reappraised. Many have a single rental property with a substantial mortgage to pay. If these landlords lose so much money as a result of bad tenants (either who fail to pay rent or who damage the property), that they sell up and leave the market, we will lose all those homes. We must retain as many homes for rental as possible, if rents are not to skyrocket further, due to demand outstripping supply.
If a tenant looks after the property and pays their rent on time, it is not in a landlords’ financial interest to ask them to leave. Good tenants have nothing to fear from the Section 21, as it is only ever used when strictly necessary.
For now, it seems good sense has prevailed, and the consultation process has worked well. Hopefully, the amendments to the Section 8 notice will be fair to all and the court system will be capable of dealing with court order applications in a timely manner.
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