Government data challenges its own eviction claims

The government’s own housing data has raised questions about the political case used to justify sweeping reform of the private rented sector.

The latest English Housing Survey covers the period before the Renters’ Rights Act’s main tenancy changes came into force on 1 May 2026.

It is now the official pre-Act benchmark for the sector.

However, the figures do not entirely fit the narrative that has dominated the rent reform debate.

Most tenants weren’t evicted

Among private tenancies that ended in the previous year, 63% of renters said they left because they wanted to move.

Only 14% said their tenancy ended because the landlord or agent asked them to leave, while just 3% pointed to a landlord-imposed rent increase.

The figures do show rising rents, affordability pressure, unresolved complaints and barriers for some tenants.

They also show that most tenancy endings were not landlord-led and arrears remained relatively low.

The sector’s biggest pressure was cost and supply rather than simply landlords using Section 21.

Asked to leave

The survey was produced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to capture the sector before assured shorthold tenancies were replaced by the new assured periodic system and Section 21 was scrapped.

The Act was sold on the abolition of so-called Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, but the survey suggests landlord-led endings were a minority of all tenancy endings before the reforms took effect.

Among private renters whose tenancy had ended in the previous three years and who said they had been asked to leave, 45% said a Section 21 notice had been used, 37% were asked to leave informally and 19% through another method.

Separately, when asked why their landlord wanted them to leave, 57% said it was to sell the property or use it themselves, with 38% citing another reason.

Rent and affordability

The average private rent in London reached £393 a week in 2024-25, compared with £207 a week across the rest of England.

Private renters spent an average of 34% of household income on rent when housing support was included.

Without housing support, the figure rose to 39%.

Just 2% of private renters were in current arrears, while another 3% had fallen behind at some point in the previous year.

That combined 5% figure was roughly level with 2023-24 and well below the 8% recorded in 2019-20.

Satisfaction and complaints

Two-thirds of private renters (66%) were satisfied with their tenure, though this was down from 70% five years earlier.

Half of private renters who complained were unhappy with how their complaint was handled.

Of those left unhappy, 94% did not pursue the matter further.

Over half a million private rented households (626,000) paid rent in advance in addition to a deposit, while 22% of private renters were asked to provide a guarantor before moving in.

Nearly one in 10 private renters said they had been refused a property because they had pets, something the Act now restricts to reasonable grounds only.

The private rented sector remained at 19% of households in England, equivalent to around 4.7 million homes.

However, the share of Londoners renting privately fell from 32% to 28% in just one year.