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Polly Jasper, associate and lettings training and support assistant, discusses the strong possibility the new government will abolish the section 21, no fault eviction, and looks at the statistics around this part of the property rental industry.
The government announced plans to abolish the section 21 notice and supposed “no fault evictions” to give greater security to tenants. At the same time, it announced “a wider package of reforms aimed at rebalancing the relationship between tenants and landlords”.
The English Housing Survey 2022 to 2023: security of tenure, was released this summer and shows that some 63% of private renters who had moved in the previous 12 months stated they ended their tenancy by their choice. The most common driver for ending a tenancy was job-related moves followed by tenants wanting a larger property, moving to live nearer to schools, or simply wanting to live in a nicer area. This is contrary to the perception given by publicity around section 21.
The survey also revealed that only 9% of private rental tenants left a property due to eviction, and in the majority of cases, this was because the landlord had a genuine need of either wanting to sell or move into the property themselves.
Issuing a section 21 notice is currently the easiest way to end a tenancy once the fixed term contract has expired and gives the tenant 2 months’ notice to vacate the property. Importantly, as long as it is served correctly, this also allows the landlord to gain possession which cannot be contested by the tenant.
Based on the statistics, we can see that most tenancies are ended by the tenant, which is unlikely to change. Those landlords who require their property back to sell or live in will still be able to do so. For the small number of landlords who are affected by a tenant breaching the tenancy, they too will be able to regain possession. Work will be required to improve the court system but for many landlords and tenants we envisage very little will change.
Whilst the section 21 will be abolished, further grounds will likely be introduced to section 2 of the Housing Act to enable landlords to secure possession. This means that those with a genuine reason to require possession of their property, to sell or move into, will still be able to do so.
Stags’ letting department awaits confirmation on the proposed timescales for these changes and will continue to keep landlords updated as and when further information is released.
If you are concerned about what the potential changes may mean for you, please contact a member of our team who will be able to provide further information.
