Citizens Advice spokesperson Kirsty Rowlinson claims that private landlords are serving Section 21 notices on tenants to avoid doing repairs.
At a recent meeting with Southampton council Rowlinson stated: We see quite a lot of seemingly retaliatory evictions, if tenants asks for repairs to be carried out they are soon after likely to receive a section 21 notice, - from what I understands the legal process for getting a tenant evicted is far quicker than the legal process for getting repairs done, so the landlord knows that the tenant is going to be gone before the court case for the repairs comes through. This is what we are seeing at Citizens Advice in Southampton.
She continued: Sanctions, section 21s and rent arrears have risen hugely in Southampton over the last couple of quarters. The last couple of months in particular we are really feeling the increase, landlords want to raise the rent and tenants aren’t able to afford the increase. Sometimes landlords want to move into the property themselves or want to move family members into the property and some landlords have bitten off more than they can chew – they can’t afford the mortgage and they are selling their property.”
In general Citizens Advice welcomes the Renters Reform Bill which is expected to have its third Reading in the Commons this month - however they claim it will still allowed backdoor evictions.
In a previous statement Citizen Advice claimed that new grounds in the Renters Reform Bill will allow landlords to evict tenants just 6 months into a tenancy if they wish to sell a property or move family in. Citizens Advice’s research found 48 per cent of renters who have experienced an eviction had been told their landlord wanted to sell up. But worryingly, the new rules won’t require landlords to give evidence they have followed through on this once a tenant has left.
Citizens Advice is also warning landlords may use excessive rent increases as a way of forcing tenants out. In 2022 1.8 million households either had their rent increased or were threatened with an increase, with over 300,000 renters forced out of their home by a rent increase. They also found less than 10 per cent of renters who challenged a rent increase from their landlord were successful, with options for tenants limited and often inaccessible, consequently they want the length of time new tenants are protected from eviction to be increased from six months to two years.
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