Westminster Labour Councillors will be raising the concerns of private renters at the Council meeting on 1st May.
In a motion, to be moved by Councillor Pancho Lewis and seconded by Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Labour will be urging the Council to support the following:
“This Council believes the right to decent housing is a basic human right. Far from guaranteeing such a right, existing UK law seems designed to deny it. Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 is a particularly vicious demonstration of the point. It allows a landlord to evict a tenant without any requirement to specify or prove a reasonable ground for repossession. This unilateral and unrestrained power creates insecurity and a real risk of homelessness for tenants who dare to complain about unacceptable living conditions or unfair rent rises. To achieve fairness and security for the thousands of tenants living in private rented accommodation, the balance of power needs to shift. This Council supports the stated objective of the Government to abolish section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 and will submit a response to the consultation process in favour of abolition. The council urges the Government to move swiftly to enact this vital change and continue to improve conditions for those in the private rented sector.”
No fault evictions cause disruption and anxiety to many families and are a huge and unnecessary expense for so many people.
Tenancies ended by landlords were the biggest cause of homelessness acceptances in England in 2017.
Currently 62 per cent of all ‘no fault’ eviction notices are issued in London.
With the proportion of private renters in London set to grow to 40% in the next six years, ending no fault evictions is just one of the steps towards providing proper stability and security for tenants.
But even more needs to be done. We need:
- streamlined courts processes,
- more resources for early dispute resolution and mediation
- improved legal aid for tenants
- we need controls on rents as abolishing section 21 won’t work if landlords can still force tenants out by hiking the rent
- and we need more genuinely affordable social housing