19th
Jun 2023
Citizens Advice is now accusing some landlords of using excessive rent rises to force out tenants.
The charity says the Renters Reform Bill, which is currently going through the somewhat longwinded parliamentary process, will only help tenants’ rights if the legislation closes all the loopholes from ‘no fault’ evictions such as rent increases and other means this is in spite of scrapping Section 21 powers.
CA says that in May alone they have helped ‘nearly’ 2,000 tenants with Section 21 problems and it is 25 per higher than in May 2022.
The new grounds in the Renters Reform Bill allow landlords to evict tenants six months into a tenancy if they wish to sell a property or to move their family into the home.
Citizens Advice is claiming virtually half - 48 per cent - of tenants evicted were told the landlord wanted to sell the property.
The charity says in a statement: “Worryingly, the new rules won’t require landlords to give evidence they have followed through on this once a tenant has left.”
Citizens Advice latest unsubstantiated statement says that in 2022 1.8 million private rented households apparently had their rent increased or had been threatened with one, and 300,000 tenants were “forced out of their home by a rent increase.”
The charity is now pushing for the government to close the backdoor ‘loopholes’ in the Bill to give renters greater protection and security.
It now wants the time period new tenants are ‘safe’ from ‘no fault’ grounds for eviction to be upped from six months to a staggering two years, and to prohibit landlords from re-letting properties after claiming they were selling up.
Matthew Upton of Citizens Advice, says: “Our advisers are increasingly hearing from renters who are being forced to uproot their entire lives after receiving a Section 21 notice.
“For too long, renters have lived in precarious situations with few protections while landlords have held all the cards. Reforms to the private rental sector are welcome but they’re open to abuse from unscrupulous landlords. The government must ensure reforms are watertight and not include loopholes which allow Section 21 evictions to continue by the backdoor.”
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