S21 conundrum now that the RRA is in place?

Difficult situation. Has the tenant considered a swap with a smaller place? My daughter did this some years ago using an app where people post their properties available to swap. There will be plenty of people in one-beds looking for a bigger place.

Maybe you or a relative could decide to move in when she’s ready to move out? Or you could sell. How does the repossession ground for major repairs work?

Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 12/10/2026 – 12:24
Sorry, I misunderstood the problem.

Reply to the comment left by Kate Gould at 12/10/2026 – 12:30
Kate. Its an HMO room. She is now stuck there because of LA policies and RRA.

Reply to the comment left by NewYorkie at 12/10/2026 – 12:32
Thanks for reading. I maybe explained it badly seeing Kate’s comment as well. I’m certainly not moving into an HMO room to ‘help’ someone get back on the council list.

One of the key aims of the RRA was to reduce the number of ex PRS tenants becoming eligible for public housing. Unfortunately the tenant is now trapped unless the landlord evicts under one of the compulsory grounds. Likewise the landlord is stuck with the tenant in the same way.

I’m going to add a bit to ‘my article’ above. I sent it in because I believe the RRA has ‘inadvertently’ created a doom loop.
1. If/when the lady clears her council debt and tries to access council housing again.
She cannot just leave the HMO as she then is ‘intentionally homeless’ unless a possession order is obtained by the LL.
The only ground that would work for me; as I’m not going to a. move into, b. sell, c. major renovations, d. Lease to Serco et al is S8 G8. 3 months behind on the rent (if she was).
That puts her straight back into the ‘intentionally homeless’ category. She may get a B&B under hardship but not a tenancy.

I only hope I’m wrong, otherwise are we going to create a group who can never move on?

BTW. I have NO issues with the lady and actually want to help. The council have also hit her with costs for cleaning the gardens of her former home which were used as a ‘dump’ by others after she moved out. I’m going to draft some words and point her to our legal advice.

A middle aged woman forced into a hmo by a local authority. Where is the outcry? Where are our activist charities? Where are the “heartless landlord” headlines?
Sadly the RRA does not protect tenants looking for accomodation, it actively harms them. How can any landlords take a risk on this type of tenant nowadays? I’ve spent 30 years housing just such people, but they have no chance now. It is heartbreaking to see good families with just one income fail the affordability requirements for ordinary properties.
We are going to have a whole generation of retirees in hmo’s. What a shambles!
Sadly, landlords will be blamed by the fools in power who are driving this anti-landlord crusade, and poorer tenants will suffer.
I can’t think of a way for you to help this tenant. If only there was some form of eviction process which did not apportion blame.

Hi Jim,

Your conundrum rests on two Parts of the Act doing different jobs, and once they’re separated it looks less hopeless.

Going back on the housing list is Part 6. Intentional homelessness is Part 7, and it doesn’t bear on whether she can join the register or bid. Section 166A(3)(a) makes people who are homeless within the meaning of Part 7 a reasonable preference category, and that includes people found intentionally homeless. What the council’s described to her is its own qualification rule under section 160ZA(7).

The bigger point is she doesn’t need to leave. Section 175(3) says a person isn’t to be treated as having accommodation unless it’s accommodation it would be reasonable for them to continue to occupy, so she can apply from the room she’s in. The prevention duty in section 195 and the relief duty in section 189B both turn on eligibility alone, and paragraph 9.2 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance says they apply irrespective of intentionality.

On Ground 8, arrears from a genuine inability to pay aren’t a deliberate act under section 191(2), and Code paragraphs 9.20 and 9.21 say so directly. But don’t build towards it. Section 191(3) catches someone who enters an arrangement requiring them to leave in order to qualify for assistance.

Ask for a section 189A assessment and a personalised housing plan while she’s still housed.

OJ