There are just a few days left to have your say about the government’s plans to scrap Section 21, the law that allows landlords to evict tenants without needing a reason.
The Ministry of Housing’s consultation on abolishing Section 21 closes on Saturday and today, alongside other members of the End Unfair Evictions coalition, we went down to Westminster to call on the government to give tenants the protections needed to enjoy a stable home.
Generation Rent supporters and London Renters Union members took our own Section 21 removals van down to the Ministry of Housing to share renters’ stories of unfair evictions and show what is needed to deliver security of tenure.
Under the government's current proposals, landlords will be unable to turf out tenants without a good reason, but we are worried that landlords could still abuse new grounds for eviction, and that tenants could still be left in the lurch if their landlord wanted to move back in or sell.
The End Unfair Evictions coalition has set out its demands to improve the proposals to discourage no-fault evictions, prevent retaliatory rent hikes, give tenants more notice, and require landlords who need to move back in or sell to cover the tenants’ costs of moving home.
We have more than 40,000 signatures on our open letter to the Housing Secretary and Prime Minister, and we have also designed a tool with 38 Degrees to make it easy for renters to respond to the most important questions of the consultation.
If you feel strongly about the injustice of Section 21 – and particularly if you have lost your home through reasons out of your control – then the government needs to hear from you. Please take a few minutes to answer the questions by 11.45pm on Saturday 12 October.
The more renters’ experiences the government hears, the better decisions it will make as it designs a new tenancy system for England’s private rental market.
