Shelter warnings over eviction ban ending

Shelter warnings over eviction ban ending

10:04 AM, 1st June 2021, About 3 years ago 7

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Shelter claims the lifting of the current ban on evictions by bailiffs on the 1st of June will leave thousands of private renters across England facing eviction this summer. Shelter has released new research on insecurity in the PRS it claims to show:

1.8 million private renting adults in England (22%) are worried they will lose or be asked to leave their current home at short notice.

3.2 million private renting adults in England (40%) say their experience of finding and trying to keep a home makes them worry about finding another home in the future.

Previous research carried out by the charity at the end of November 2020 revealed 445,000 private renting adults in England were in arrears at the time or had been threatened with eviction by their landlord or letting agent in the past month.

Shelter is warning the government must take urgent action now to protect renters against the imminent threat of eviction and homelessness with a package of emergency financial aid. But to protect renters long-term, Shelter says the government must address the structural failings of the private rental system through its forthcoming Renters’ Reform Bill.

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said:

“The lifting of the eviction ban signals the beginning of the end for many renters facing homelessness. Thousands of people will wake up on the 1st of June knowing they’ll soon be kicked out of their home, with nowhere to go.

“The ban has been a lifeline for private renters who have weathered job losses, falling incomes and rising debts in this pandemic. But what happens now? Longer notice periods, while they last, will give some worried renters valuable time. But come September, anyone facing eviction will have just weeks to find somewhere else to live.

“The government needs to do more to stem the tide of rising evictions. It cannot waver from delivering a Renters’ Reform Bill that scraps Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions altogether. And in the meantime, it must offer renters with crippling Covid-arrears a package of financial aid.”

Shelter commissioned YouGov to conduct an online survey among 13,268 adults (18+) in Great Britain, to ask them about their home and housing experiences. Fieldwork was undertaken between 6 – 14 April 2021, and the figures have been weighted to be representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

This analysis is based on 1,999 private renters living in England who responded to the survey. Shelter has combined these survey results from YouGov with English Housing Survey estimates of adults in the private rented sector to provide an estimate of the number of adults affected by each of the issues raised by respondents.


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Comments

moneymanager

12:51 PM, 1st June 2021, About 3 years ago

Polly Neate is clearly devoid of critical thinking, a deliberatey and delinquently non-rent paying tenant would not be facing a "no fault eviction" by definition, that there may be thousands in INVOLUNTARY arrears is ceratinly possible and regrettable but fault for that must be laid at government's door not landlords, unless of course the purpose is the privatisation of social costs which is actually the dispossession of private private property by the state, i.e. Communism.

TrevL

13:14 PM, 1st June 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by moneymanager at 01/06/2021 - 12:51
Or, the government are going to let homelessness and free markets play out. The alternative is even more goverment borrowing and watching the bond markets turn against the UK, which should worry anyone with large borrowings at low rates.

What the government are doing is let the unsustainable increase in housing costs play out in the private rented sector, which is going to be painful for tenants and landlords alike.....

I mean plenty of tenant demand, from tenants with no income is not attrictive to landlords looking for steady income.

Tim Rogers

13:57 PM, 1st June 2021, About 3 years ago

It real does stagger belief that Shelter are so divorced from reality. No landlord wants to go through the grief of moving a tenant on unless it is necessary.

Shelter seem totally blinkered when it comes to the existence of bad tenants. It is way past time that a register of bad tenants was constructed etc......

Is it too much to ask, that when the UK government 'look to europe' for ideas on the PRS, they take notice of the protections for the tenant AND the landlord.

Carol

15:04 PM, 1st June 2021, About 3 years ago

I have recently read many articles where government and other organisations appear to be denying the impact that government legislation and policies is having an impact on the PRS.

This is how after many years as a landlord I am seeing it on the ground.

In the past month I have had tenants leave a 2 bed house of their own accord. When I advertised for rent I had over 80 viewing requests within 4 days. About 25% gave the reason for leaving their current property was the landlord selling. About 50% were on benefits and insufficient income to pass an affordability test (even though the rent was well above housing benefits rate). A good few pulled out after being told they needed a clean credit history to apply. I finally rented after 2 failed reference attempts, where the prospective tenants said they didn't know they had CCJ's. One where the guarantor they put forward had CCJ's. Some were verbally abusive saying I couldn't refuse them because they were on benefits (I never gave this as a reason).

It is an absolute minefield for a landlord trying to avoid getting a bad tenant that becomes impossible to remove. Was beginning to wish I had sold instead!

Jay James

23:50 PM, 1st June 2021, About 3 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Carol at 01/06/2021 - 15:04
"Some were verbally abusive saying I couldn't refuse them because they were on benefits (I never gave this as a reason)."

Get the police on the scum.

Susan Adamson

8:30 AM, 5th June 2021, About 3 years ago

Shelter are not the tenants friend, neither are they for the landlord. Shelter exist to ‘look’ like they are doing something, end of!
Because of pressure from Shelter, the govt decided to extend notice periods for sec 21 etc and because of that many more landlords have decided that rent guarantee insurance is a must. The criteria that the tenant has to achieve for the LL to be able to get the insurance is high which obvs means that most applicants can not satisfy the criteria (well, the people that are in most need at least) making properties only available to those with good credit history, suitable income and good renting history.
A few years ago, I might have taken a chance on someone who did not satisfy the criteria, and often did, with good results. Not now, no way! The risk of being stuck with a non paying tenant for, potentially, 18 months + is not worth it.
Govt needs to work with PRS and get rid of Shelter altogether.

Mick Roberts

9:51 AM, 5th June 2021, About 3 years ago

Carol says it all.

Every time Polly opens her mouth, she makes dozens more tenants homeless as more Landlords think What? I'm packing up.
I've just referred a Mental Health tenant of mine to Shelter to see if they had a solution. They started advising him about illegal eviction. He & I said We WANT TO RUDDY KEEP him in the house, not evict him. Gees Shelter has no way of KEEPING them in the house, only making Landlords life awful so he avoids the less perfect tenant next time.

My notes on this:
You are not helping tenants at all. You are making it so hard to evict bad non paying tenant, next time the Landlord don't take a risk.
If and I'm exaggerating, u let Landlord get his house back in a month from bad non paying tenant, more Landlords would take chances. Landlord would say What I can get me house back in a month if this tenant is no good? Yes Ok, I'll take her why not.
The way you doing it is temporarily helping current tenant & giving u stay of execution, but u making it MUCH worse for the next thousands of tenants.

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