More than 15,000 renters could lose homes before ban on no-fault evictions comes into force
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More than 15,600 rental households will be evicted by bailiffs in the first six months of 2025, the Renters Reform Coalition has warned. Thousands of tenants could be kicked out of their homes before new laws to ban no-fault evictions comes into effect, a campaign group has warned.
The new legislation promises more rights to challenge unfair rent increases, target landlords who do not repair mouldy homes and prevent tenants from being served section 21 orders, which allow a landlord to ask their tenant to leave their property without having to specify a reason.
However, the Renters Reform Coalition, which brings together 21 organisations supporting private renters, says such orders could be used thousands of times during the wait for the bill to become law. The group warned that based on current trends, more than 15,600 rental households will be evicted by bailiffs in the first six months of 2025. A figure that represents a 12.2 per cent increase on the first half of last year.
The legislation will return to the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon for its remaining stages, having passed through its first and second reading and scrutiny from a parliamentary committee last year. It will then head to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.
Lucy Tiller, policy manager for the RRC, said the legislation is unlikely to come into force until summer, pointing out at the number of no-fault evictions is currently at an eight-year high. “Some of the increase is because there was a massive downturn during the pandemic and we just still on the increase from that, but it is definitely the case that there are a huge number of Section 21 evictions going through at the moment”, she told Metro.
