A landlord says he was forced to evict a 90-year-old tenant because of Labour’s plan to ban Section 21 notices.

Alan Shields and his partner decided to sell their rental property in Hampshire once it was confirmed Labour would follow through on the previous Conservative Government’s attempt to outlaw Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.

The Renters’ Rights Bill, which is currently passing through Parliament, includes a measure to end Section 21.

We had to do the horrible thing of issuing a Section 21.”

He says the tenant, who had a military background, was good at paying the rent on time, but wasn’t looking after the house properly.

“We had to do the horrible thing of issuing a Section 21. He was very understanding,” Shields said.

“We looked at what Gove was proposing [when he was Housing Secretary] in terms of levelling the playing field between landlord and tenants, but we thought we would see what happens when the election comes.

“However, what worried us most was the elimination of Section 21,” he said.

Capital gains

He had bought the property in 2002 as an investment for £164,000 and spent £20,000 making improvements, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Shields, who is 75, sold it for £425,000 recently as he was also worried about a possible increase in Capital Gains Tax in the Budget, which didn’t materialise.

We decided reluctantly to pull the plug.”

“We decided reluctantly to pull the plug. For us and 24 years of owning a property that we bought at £164,000 and sold at £425,000, that would be a heavy Capital Gains Tax bill even at current rates.

“Turns out that Rachel Reeves didn’t put up capital gains on rental properties, but I still feel it is not worth the effort now,” he said.

The couple helped their former tenant to find an alternative home in the local area.