THE head of a housing charity is calling on the Prime Minister to abolish "no fault" evictions.
Boris Johnson should give renters a "Platinum Jubilee present" by suspending the Section 21 evictions before getting rid of them altogether, said Andy Winter, chief executive of BHT Sussex.
He has written to Mr Johnson in response to official figures showing that the number of “no fault” Section 21 evictions issued in the first three months of this year was up 41 per cent on the same period in 2020 before the pandemic.
Section 21 enables private landlords to repossess their properties from assured shorthold tenants without having to establish fault on the part of the tenant.
In his letter, Mr Winter said: “Without urgent action by the government, the situation is likely to get much worse.
“Soaring inflation is likely to lead to a surge in tenants being asked to leave their homes.”
He is calling on Mr Johnson to “bring forward urgent action to suspend and subsequently to abolish Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions.”
Mr Winter said: “If this could be achieved within the next few days it would be a welcomed jubilee gift for those thousands of people whose lives are currently on a knife edge and who are facing the uncertainty, disruption and trauma that comes with being made homeless.”
He said that, in addition to the impact on individuals and their households, there is a knock-on impact on the public purse.
He said: “This situation is placing unsustainable pressure on local authorities who are required to provide temporary accommodation to some of those evicted through Section 21.
“In areas like East Sussex, where BHT Sussex has two housing advice centres, we are seeing people evicted from accommodation for which monthly rents of £600 are paid.
“This property is then leased to local authorities as temporary accommodation, with rents charged at approximately £1,300.
“The urgent abolition of Section 21 would not only prevent hardship and poverty, it would ensure that demands on the public purse do not increase.”
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