No-fault evictions skyrocket amid government delays to ban
The number of ‘no-fault’ evictions taken to court reached its highest level since 2016 in the third quarter of 2023, according to official data from the Ministry of Justice.
The number section 21 evictions taken to court rose to 8,399 during the three months from July to September. This is the highest quarterly figure since 2016 – and an increase of 38% on the same quarter in 2022.
The surge comes after the government again delayed implementing the long-promised ban on no-fault evictions, saying that the policy will not come into force until the courts have been reformed, which campaigners have labelled an ‘indefinite delay’.
As the majority of section 21 evictions are not contested and therefore do not end up in court, the real numbers of section 21s issued to tenants will have been many times higher. Polling by Shelter estimates that 172 families a day are served a Section 21.
The latest figures put the total number of section 21 claims taken to court since 2019 – when the government promised to ban the practice – at 81,439.
Tom Darling, campaign manager of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, said: ‘These shocking repossession statistics demonstrate section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions are soaring out of control while the government continues to appease landlords. And of course, these figures are just the tip of the iceberg – the vast majority of renters will not fight their eviction notice in court, so the real human cost will be exponentially higher.
‘As we approach winter, the situation for private renters looks set to become even more bleak amongst rising rents and utility bills going back up. We know that homelessness services in councils right across England are already stretched to breaking point – further evictions will worsen the situation and mean more people falling through the cracks.
‘Amidst this crisis it beggars belief that the government haven’t set a date for when we can expect an end to no-fault evictions. They must do so immediately.’
The day before the figures were published, Clive Betts – chair of the parliamentary levelling up, housing and communities committee – wrote to the secretary of state Michael Gove to urge the government to commit to a timetable for abolishing section 21 evictions.
‘The government should be getting on with ensuring courts can fast-track claims rather than kicking the can down the road on private rental reform and seeking to make flimsy excuses for it delaying introducing the provision to ban ‘no fault’ evictions,’ Betts said in his letter to Gove.
‘Too many tenants currently experience unfair evictions and insecurity of tenure. Rather than seeking to cast the blame elsewhere for delaying reform, including in the direction of our committee, the government should be setting out a clear timetable for when it will implement the provisions of the Renters (Reform) Bill and ensure the legal system is fit to handle the consequences of the abolition of section 21. Tenants and landlords deserve that clarity and assurance.’
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