Mayor slams Government over Section 21 ban ‘dithering’

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan (main picture) has accused the Government of “dithering” over its promise to ban Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.

Khan, who is seeking to be re-elected as Mayor in May, says ministers have failed to deliver on their pledge to outlaw Section 21.

And he is concerned the reforms are going to be “watered down beyond recognition”.

Threat

Khan says: “Once again London’s 2.7 million private renters are left with the threat of eviction hanging over their heads due to ministers’ broken promises.

“Any sense of relief we felt when the Renters (Reform) Bill finally limped into Parliament last year has now been washed away by months of dither and delay, followed by reports of the promised reforms now being watered down beyond recognition,” he says.

In the real world, London renters are losing their homes at a rapidly increasing rate.”

“Meanwhile, in the real world, London renters are losing their homes at a rapidly increasing rate both from the still-legal Section 21 evictions and the actions of unscrupulous rogue landlords.”

He says the Government must get the bill into law “as a matter of the highest priority”.

Halfway house

Only last month, Housing Secretary Michael Gove said S21 evictions would be scrapped before the General Election.

But then reports suggested the Government is preparing to appease some of its backbench MPs by coming up with a ‘halfway house’ plan.

The Government had earlier announced that S21 would not be abolished under the Renters (Reform) Bill until the courts were better able to cope with extra cases.

Landlords slam government over Section 21 ban confusion