Landlords accused of using rent rises as 'backdoor evictions'

A charity claims some landlords are using what it calls “excessive” rent rises to effectively evict tenants.

Citizens Advice says the Renters Reform Bill, currently before Parliament, will only improve renters rights if forthcoming legislation prevents backdoor ‘no fault’ evictions from taking place - through rent rises and other reasons - despite the abolition of Section 21.

The charity claims to helped almost 2,000 people with Section 21 issues in May, the most in a single month on record and a 25 per cent increase since May 2022. 

New grounds in the Renters Reform Bill allow landlords to evict tenants six months into a tenancy if they wish to sell a property or move family in. Citizens Advice claims 48 per cent of renters who have been evicted had been told their landlord wanted to sell up. 

The charity says in a statement: “Worryingly, the new rules won’t require landlords to give evidence they have followed through on this once a tenant has left.”

Citizens Advice claims that last year, 1.8m households either had their rent increased or were threatened with an increase, with 300,000 renters “forced out of their home by a rent increase.” The charity does not source these figures in its statement.

Citizens Advice is urging the government to close what it describes as ‘loopholes’ in the Renters Reform Bill to give tenants the promised greater protection and security. It is also calling for the length of time new tenants are protected from ‘no fault’ grounds for eviction to be increased from six months to two years. And it wants steps to be put in place to ensure landlords who claim to need to sell a property can’t rapidly re-let it.

Matthew Upton - acting executive director of policy and advocacy at Citizens Advice - says: “Our advisers are increasingly hearing from renters who are being forced to uproot their entire lives after receiving a Section 21 notice.

“For too long, renters have lived in precarious situations with few protections while landlords have held all the cards. Reforms to the private rental sector are welcome but they’re open to abuse from unscrupulous landlords. The government must ensure reforms are watertight and not include loopholes which allow Section 21 evictions to continue by the backdoor.” 

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