Generation Rent re-runs argument with government over Section 21

Campaign group Generation Rent, led by former Labour Baroness Alicia Kennedy, has renewed its call for the scrapping of Section 21 eviction powers.

“The government has rightly committed to the abolition of Section 21 evictions, but this is too late for the thousands of renters who have faced homelessness while the reforms have been delayed” says the Baroness.

“To give renters the security that everyone should expect from their home, the government must make sure that the use of new eviction grounds for sale is minimised and landlords who force their blameless tenants out provide adequate financial support.”

Her group claims that over 40,000 households in England have been threatened with homelessness using Section 21 eviction grounds in the two years since the government promised to abolish such powers.

It then singles out the London borough of Hillingdon - which contains the constituency of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Generation Rent claims Hillingdon has “the second worst rate in the country with 29 in every 1000 private renter households having faced homelessness after complaining about disrepair, or their landlord decided to sell or re-let their home.”

The activist group wants the government’s upcoming White Paper on the Private Rented Sector to include measures that allow renters to challenge evictions when the landlord wishes to sell, and wants tenants to be given financial support “if forced to move for reasons outside their control.”

Baroness Kennedy continues: “Being forced to move for reasons outside your control creates unimaginable stress, uproots you from your community and disrupts children’s education. Right now landlords need no reason to inflict this on their tenants.”