No-fault evictions by bailiffs up by 41% despite Government promise to abolish them

Campaigners have urged the Government to push forward on their promise to abolish Section 21, but recent Ministry of Justice statistics show a rise in evictions.

Data from the Ministry of Justice last week shared that the number of households removed from their homes by court bailiffs following Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions is up by 41% in the past year in England.

21,332 households have been evicted from their homes by bailiffs since the Government’s promise to ban these no-fault evictions in 2019, and private landlords have started 7,491 court claims to evict tenants via this process this quarter – an increase of 35% in a year.

Section 21 evictions play a large role in widening the inequity between landlords and tenants, allowing landlords to evict tenants with only two months’ notice, and without having to give a reason. This makes them a major contributing factor to homelessness, putting vulnerable people at risk of ending up on the streets and without support. During the Queen’s Speech in May 2022, the Government promised the Renters’ Reform Bill. It was announced that the Bill would abolish Section 21 and introduce a register of landlords, which was reiterated with the publication of the Fairer Rented Sector White Paper in June 2022.

Sources:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-homelessness https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/no-fault-evictions-up-by-41-new-government-data-shows-82673#:~:text=The%20government%20data%20revealed%20that,up%2035%25%20in%20a%20year.