The end of ‘no fault’ section 21 evictions (England)

by Patrick Garratt - 1st November 2022

A research breifing entitled ‘The end of ‘no fault’ section 21 evictions (England)’ was published by the Government on 24th October. It sets out the arguments for removal of no fault evictions and analyses the potential impact. We have previously published our concerns about the proposed changes.

The main purpose of the changes is to address the finding that:

“Research has found evidence of tenants who are reluctant to exercise their rights to secure repairs and/or challenge rent increases due to the ease with which landlords can evict them. Respondents to a 2018 consultation on, overcoming the barriers to longer tenancies in the private rented sector, said they felt unable to plan due to housing insecurity, with knock-on effects on children’s education and residents’ mental health.”

The paper sets out the proposed exemption for students living in purpose built student accommodation and doesn’t propose any extension to this exemption to students living in the wider PRS sector, but, it does suggest that “The removal of section 21 evictions from the wider student lettings sector (ie non-purpose built) is controversial.” So it does seem that the government has at least taken notice of the feedback landlords of student accommodation of provided in response to the Renters Reform white paper. It is clear the government now has the information, let us hope that they act upon it and adjust the policy.