Shelter has another ill-informed dig at landlords

The housing charity Shelter says a major contributing factor to rising homelessness is the instability of private renting – and the use of section 21 ‘no-fault’ notices.

It says that as homelessness surges, there should be no more delays to the Renters (Reform) Bill.

Pointing to new government figures that show 79,840 households faced homelessness in England between January and March this year, the charity says this is the highest number on record.

And, it adds, the loss of a private tenancy is the leading cause of homelessness and accounts for 29% of households who are either homeless or threatened with homelessness.

Shelter says one of the main reasons for this instability is landlords using section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions which allow landlords to evict a tenant with two months’ notice, without having to give any reason.

‘Overdue promises on ending no-fault evictions’

Shelter’s chief executive, Polly Neate, said: “With record numbers of people becoming homeless, the time for empty words on building social homes and overdue promises on ending no-fault evictions has long passed.

“No-fault evictions are fuelling homelessness and throwing thousands of families’ lives into turmoil.

“We need decisive action, not lip service, before this crisis gets even worse.”

She added: “When MPs return from their summer break in September, the Renters (Reform) Bill needs to come back with them, and it must be made law at the earliest opportunity.

“But to end homelessness for good, we need genuinely affordable homes.

“The Secretary of State, Michael Gove, agrees social homes are essential to solving the housing emergency, so it’s time for his government to get on and build them.”

Threatened with homelessness because of Section 21

The charity says that 24,060 households were threatened with homelessness because of a Section 21 no-fault eviction in the last year – up by 21% compared to the previous 12 months.

However, since the government published its Renters (Reform) Bill in May to ban Section 21 evictions and introduce protections for renters, the Bill has not made much progress through Parliament.

Now, Shelter is urging the government to prioritise the Bill as soon as it returns from summer recess.

It is also calling on the Secretary of State for Housing, Michael Gove, to make his ambition to build tens of thousands of new homes for social rent a reality, to help ease the pressure on private renting and curb homelessness.