Unfair evictions cost councils £161m a year, research finds

Campaigners want landlords to be forced to compensate tenants if they want to remove them from a property to sell it, writes Ben Chapman

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Ending unfair evictions could reduce homelessness by 9 per cent and save councils £161m per year, according to a report which calls for a ban on “no-fault” evictions.

Analysis of government figures by campaign group Generation Rent showed that Since April 2018, 68,430 households have faced homelessness after their landlord evicted them to sell or re-let the property or in retaliation for a complaint.

In 2019-20, there were an average of 88,533 households in temporary accommodation, costing councils a total of £1.2bn.

Generation Rent estimates that unfair evictions directly cost councils £161m through responding to homelessness cases and housing an estimated 8,057 households who had been evicted unfairly in temporary accommodation.

Out of 755,250 households made homeless or threatened with homelessness between April 2018 and December 2020, 140,950 had been in a private assured shorthold tenancy.

In almost half of these cases, tenants were evicted in a way that Generation Rent argues is unfair; either following a complaint about disrepair or due to their landlord deciding to sell or re-let the property.

The organisation is calling for reforms which would mean landlords must compensate tenants if they want to remove them so they can sell the property. It also wants the government to ban evictions where landlords simply wish to replace their tenants or avoid responding to a complaint.

In the Queens Speech, the government has committed to publishing a white paper in the autumn which would set out reforms to protect renters, including the abolition of Section 21 “no fault” evictions, a lifetime deposit that transfers between tenancies, and regulation of landlords.

Alicia Kennedy, director of Generation Rent, said: “The government’s commitment to abolishing Section 21 means that landlords will no longer be able to evict tenants just for requesting repairs or on other spurious grounds. But without further protections tenants could still face hardship and homelessness if their landlord decides to sell up.

“It cannot be right for a housing provider to leave their customer in the lurch and expect tenants and taxpayers to pick up the bill. Renters can never enjoy a stable life if they can have the rug pulled from under them, so the government’s reforms must make sure renters get proper support during unwanted moves.”