Is the government finally going to scrap no-fault evictions for renters?

Charities cautiously welcome long-delayed promise to abolish Section 21, writes Ashley Cowburn

More than one prime minister has promised to abolish Section 21 (PA Wire)

Contained in the Queen’s Speech amid all the pomp and ceremony was a commitment from the government that homelessness campaigners, charities, and renters will be all too familiar with.

Promising a Renters’ Reform Bill, Boris Johnson vowed to eradicate so-called “no-fault evictions”, which allows landlords to evict tenants without having to give a reason, and with just eight weeks’ notice.

The government said ending the practice – already abolished in Scotland – would form part of a “better deal” for England’s 4.4 million private renters, empowering tenants “to challenge poor and unfair rent increase without fear of retaliatory eviction”.

Possession grounds for landlords will also be reformed, with “stronger grounds for repeated incidences of rent arrears and reducing notice periods for antisocial behaviour, ensuring that they can regain their property efficiently when needed”.

The move to overturn Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act – introduced by Margaret Thatcher’s government – comes after years of campaigning, but it is certainly not the first time the pledge has been made.

Theresa May vowed to abolish landlords’ power to evict tenants with no reason in April 2019, saying renters should have the right to “feel secure in their home”. The former prime minister described the practice as “wrong”, claiming millions of “responsible tenants could still be uprooted by the landlord with little notice, and often little justification”.

After entering No 10 – following Ms May’s resignation – Boris Johnson included the commitment in his general election manifesto, and later included a “Renters’ Reform Bill” in the 2019 Queen’s Speech.

Eight months later, however, as the country grappled with the Covid pandemic, the then housing minister Christopher Pincher said the plan to would be postponed until there was a “stable economic” terrain.

The government has remained largely silent on the issue until the Queen’s Speech on Tuesday, again including the Renters’ Reform Bill, with a pledge to introduce to parliament a white paper on the issue “shortly”.

Last month, the homelessness charity Shelter discovered that nearly 230,000 tenants were served with no-fault evictions – exactly three years since the pledge was first made by the Conservatives.

But charities have now – cautiously – welcomed the repeated pledge to introduce legislation banning the practice. Shelter’s chief executive said it showed the government had “listened to the voices of renters”, but warned: “These promises will remain words on the page until they become law. Now the government needs to get the job done.”

Campaign group Generation Rent echoed the sentiment, saying: “Renters have been waiting three years for the government to abolish these insidious Section 21 evictions. Finally, legislation looks to be on its way.

“But we can’t rest until the changes are passed into law. Now it’s the details that matter”.