16th
May 2023
Activists are telling the government it must stop landlords being able to exploit loopholes, before the imminent S21 evictions ban comes into force in the published Renters Reform Bill, by hiking rents forcing tenants to leave because of affordability issues.
The London Renters Union demanded this before the Bill is even presented to Parliament, but the activist group says the plans are “open to a range of abuses and would fail to properly abolish ‘no-fault’ eviction.”
It has been four years since the government first pledged to abolish Section 21 and the Tories will also be sticking to their guns as it will not introducing any form of rent freezes across England.
An LRU spokesperson now says: “The Tories must not give with one hand and take with the other.
“If [Housing Secretary] Michael Gove is serious about bringing renters security in our homes, he must ensure this new legislation brings an end to all no-fault evictions, especially the use of unaffordable rent rises to get tenants out.
“The Tories have kicked this Bill into the long grass for years, and it is only the growing strength of the housing movement that has forced them to deliver change.”
The group is adamant about doing its utmost to achieve rent freezes and wants far stronger regulatory protection against what is termed as ‘criminal’ uses of proposed new section 8 eviction powers which could appear in the Bill, following the Section 21 ‘throwaway’.
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