A coalition of 30 non-profit organizations and charities is urging the UK Prime Minister to pass a bill that would prohibit “no-fault” evictions. The Renters Reform Bill, introduced earlier this year, would eliminate the rental rights of landlords in England to evict tenants without a reason and with only two months’ notice. According to housing and homelessness charity Shelter, its research shows that under the current law constitutes Section 21, a renter is evicted every three minutes in England. Shelter argues that renters are suffering acute hardship and social isolation as a result of poor and insecure living conditions, which have a well-documented, negative impact on their mental and physical wellbeing, as well as exacerbating financial instability and the cycle of poverty.
The signatories on the letter to the Prime Minister represent organizations such as Citizens Advice, Child Poverty Action Group, Centre for Mental Health, Disability Rights UK, and Liberty. The charities are pointing out that delays in passing the bill risk causing “more avoidable hardship and suffering,” with a greater cost to taxpayers.
The government has indicated that the bill will return to parliament shortly. A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities said, “The bill delivers our manifesto commitment and will abolish Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions to give tenants greater security in their homes. We are also determined to reduce the number of non-decent rented homes by 50% by 2030, as well as introducing the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector for the first time.”
Despite the bill’s initial introduction, there is concern that it won’t progress before the next election, which is expected to take place next year. In its 2017 manifesto, the Conservative Party promised “a better deal for renters,” including the banning of no-fault evictions. Salman Hussian, a policy manager at Shelter, noted that the Renters Reform Bill is still not on the government’s legislative agenda. “On the face of it, we can’t see any reason why it can’t be brought forward, unless there are any backroom shenanigans going on, which we don’t know about,” Hussain said
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