More than 15,000 renters could lose their homes before no-fault eviction ban takes effect

Thousands of tenants could be evicted from their homes before new laws banning no-fault evictions come into force, a campaign group has warned.

The new legislation promises more rights to challenge unfair rent increases, target landlords who fail to repair moldy properties and prevent tenants from receiving Section 21 orders, which allow landlords to ask tenants to leave their properties without giving reasons.

However, the Tenants Reform Alliance, made up of 21 organizations supporting private renters, said such orders could be used thousands of times while the bill waits to become law.

The group warned that based on current trends, more than 15,600 rental households will be evicted by bailiffs in the first six months of 2025.

The bill passed first and second reading and scrutiny by a parliamentary committee last year and will return to the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon for its remaining stages. It will then be sent to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.

RRC policy manager Lucy Tiller said the bill was unlikely to come into force before the summer, noting that the number of no-fault evictions was now at its highest level in eight years.

“Part of the increase is because there’s been a massive economic downturn during the pandemic and our numbers are still increasing, but there are definitely a lot of Section 21 evictions going on right now,” she told CNN. MRT.

“We believe that since the previous government committed to banning Section 21 in 2019, more than 100,000 households have been threatened with homelessness and 1 million households have been evicted under Section 21, so this is a huge number.

Using Department of Justice statistics, the coalition estimates there will be 15,637 “landlord repossession actions” in the first half of this year, based on growth recorded between 2023 and 2024.

In October 2024, RRC chair Tom Darling warned of a “wave of evictions” ahead of the Section 21 ban coming into effect.

But campaigners also welcomed the changes, which mean hopeful tenants no longer need to “imagine dizzying amounts of money in advance”.

An amendment to proposed legislation would prevent landlords from paying new tenants more than one month’s rent in advance, which housing charity Shelter said was a “discriminatory practice”.

But Polly Neate, the charity’s chief executive, called on the government to go further, saying: “Welfare recipients are almost twice as likely to be unable to rent due to prepayment of rent as the government’s use of Rent Homes The Patriots’ Bill of Rights is absolutely correct.

“But paying entry fees isn’t the only cost renters face. We often hear from tenants that they are forced to move when landlords raise rents to ridiculous levels – last year, 900 tenants a day were forced to move because they could not Move to bear rising rents.

“To truly make renting more secure and affordable, the bill must limit rental rent increases based on inflation or wage increases. It must also eliminate other discriminatory practices, such as unnecessary requirements for guarantors, that push people away from Exclusion from private renting, resulting in homelessness.

A Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “Our Tenants’ Bill of Rights will deliver on our commitment to reform the private rented sector so people can put down roots and save for the future without fear of being evicted at a whim. – including plans to simultaneously end restrictions on “No-fault” evictions for all current and new tenants.

“Through our plan for change we will tackle the wider housing crisis we have inherited, build the homes we need and deliver the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation.”