Jess Hanshaw, a mother of three from Newport, has described the devastating challenges facing her family as they face becoming homeless. She told her young children they were going “on an adventure”, but in reality, the family was about to move into a hostel or hotel with other homeless families. Hanshaw’s home of 12 years is being sold by its landlord because law changes designed to provide more protection from eviction have led to a surge of landlords selling their properties. Previously, landlords could ask tenants to leave with two months’ warning, but changes to the law that came into effect in December 2022 increased this to six months.
This situation is familiar to thousands of families across Wales and England, with homelessness charity Shelter’s latest figures showing that more than 8,000 people faced no-fault evictions, a rise of over 30% in a year. Jess has been made redundant while pregnant and is now searching for a new private rental, but says the market is oversaturated. If she can’t find alternative housing, Jess and her family must stay in their home and risk becoming “intentionally homeless”, which would prevent them from accessing council support.
Newport council has said it will support Hanshaw with moving and the deposit for a suitable property, but estate agents have been reticent to offer her a new place to live, leaving her feeling she is “running into a brick wall”. The NRLA reports that over the six months following the law change, the proportion of landlords who intended to sell spiked to above 50%, and 25% of landlords registered with the NRLA in Wales ended up selling in both quarters from January to June. This, according to Stuart Kayte, a landlord in Torfaen, has made the business of being a landlord unprofitable.
Steven Bletsoe, also of the NRLA, has said research shows landlords can earn in 10 weeks from holiday rentals such as Airbnb what they can make in a year in rental income from the local housing allowance, which is contributing to a growing supply and demand, and pressure on social housing. In Newport, there are more than 9,000 people on the waiting list for social housing, according to council figures, almost twice the number from 10 years ago. While Welsh government spokespersons have said that data doesn’t show a significant decrease in rental housing stock, campaigners argue more must be done to prevent a growing homelessness crisis
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