The Section 21 notice error that ruined a landlord’s case

All this shows how one sided the process is – the tenants were clearly using the property without paying but minor paperwork errors seem to outweigh the effective monthly theft by the tenant.

PS a landlord was just fined 4000 for a illegal eviction – sounds like a bargain to me.

The country really hasn’t woken up yet. It’s bankrupt and has been for decades. It’s propped up by the biggest Ponzi scam in history, propagated by politicians and governments generally, who line their nests at the expense of the hard-working alarm-clock class. Compare the almost non-existent pension fund of the plumber to that of the local government officer or MP. Governments are clever. They know tax rates are headline issues that make the front pages and get them voted out of power. Regulations, however, go under the radar.

The government has failed to create an economy that works, and because raising taxes to house those who, in a failed economy, cannot afford to rent would be politically explosive, they find it far easier to pass regulations making those who have property surplus to their personal needs directly responsible for those who can’t—shifting the financial burden from the state onto private individuals without ever admitting that the system itself has collapsed.

Back in the day, an errant landlord cleaned up his act because a tenant could take their rent elsewhere. Now the tenant can’t afford to do that, so what better than to make each owner of property surplus to their personal needs responsible for those who cannot afford shelter.

We’re mostly back to the Rent Act 1977, which destroyed the property market—but this time on steroids—because local authorities now have mechanisms in place to police owners of property surplus to their personal needs. The only thing currently missing is the tenants’ right of first refusal on sale and/or a right to buy. But the mechanisms are there, and the government is only waiting for the political cover to enact them.

It will be an enormous vote-winner before the next election and allow them to say they’ve achieved their 1.5 million homes target. Landlords just didn’t know they were holding the stock. Tenants will vote them back into power in droves. Why wouldn’t they? They’ll have the right to buy at a heavily discounted price—discounts that will be justified by ever-increasing regulations—and once they own, those regulations will drop away and they’ll sell at the now-increased price. Lenders will be queuing up to finance them.

The UK is on a par with Mississippi, the poorest of the 50 US states. Take out London and it’s a third-world country.

Reply to the comment left by Person Of The People at 13/11/2025 – 11:27
‘The government has failed to create an economy that works’

I don’t want government to even try to do that, I want government to back off and recognise that people are quite capable of running their own lives.

Reply to the comment left by moneymanager at 13/11/2025 – 13:55
Creating an economy for government means exactly what you say: backing off. Fill the potholes, cut the grass, heat the swimming pools, make sure the street lighting works, and take away the garbage and sort it. That’s their job.

“Back in the day, an errant landlord cleaned up his act because a tenant could take their rent elsewhere.”

Now the government has forced the landlord to become the unpaid Housing Officer, carrying the capital and occupational risk that all landlords are exposed to. Why would government carry assets on its own balance sheet when it can enjoy all the benefits of a council-house estate without taking any of the capital, occupational, or management risks? And on top of that, they can award themselves lucrative pension schemes because no one will notice until it’s far too late to do anything about it.

Reply to the comment left by Paul Essex at 10:26

It’s so tragic that you are so right. Blatant theft and breach of the contract, the tenant must have walked out that court, pinched themselves to see if was real and then pi$$ed themselves laughing all the way to the DSS cash machine !.

To be fair.
This is largely an error in application of the Deposit protection Scheme or a lack of knowledge.
I’m not convinced its a s21 ‘error’?