Worrying consequences of proposals to abolish S21 evictions revealed

A new survey has revealed the consequences of the Government’s evictions reform proposals within its recent white paper.

Some 1,500 landlords were canvassed by evictions specialist Landlord Action. It found that the proposals, which include abolishing Section 21 eviction notices, setting up a national landlord register in England and bringing in a Decent Homes Standard, are already changing landlord behaviour.

A quarter of the landlords told Landlord Action that they had evicted a tenant over the past 12 months via a Section 21 because they wanted sell the property ahead of any changes.

Other reasons for Section 21 evictions included rent arrears (31%), anti-social behaviour (22%) while just 2% said it was in order to move back in.

Of those who said they planned to evict their tenant over the next 12 to 18 months, 24% said they were making the move because of the increasing legislative burden means they have decided to sell.

The proposed Rent Reform Bill, which will see Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions banned, was also a key reason for landlords seeking to remove tenants in the coming months, with 28% of landlords saying this was the main reason, with a further 28% saying they were undecided.

Consequences

“The response to our latest survey paints a very clear picture of the unintended consequences of abolishing Section 21,” says Paul Shamplina (main picture), founder of Landlord Action and Chief Commercial Officer for the Hamilton Fraser Group.

“More than a quarter of tenants who have or will be asked to leave their rental properties (via receipt of a Section 21 notice), are in such a position not because they have done anything wrong but because landlords fear they will be unable to gain possession of their property easily in the future, if their circumstances change.

“Competition for rental properties is already at an all-time high, and we could be heading towards a rental stock crisis.”