Why the next 6 weeks are crucial for renters
Renters face an evictions cliff-edge when existing protections end if government doesn’t act soon
In March, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP promised ‘no renter who has lost income due to coronavirus will be forced out of their home.’ Government acted swiftly to do this. It increased eviction notice periods for most renters to 3 months, and paused housing possession action through the courts.
But, these existing protections are due to come to an end just 6 weeks from now — on 25 June. In the meantime, people continue to fall behind on their household bills. We’re concerned that renters are facing a cliff-edge: if the government doesn’t commit to new protections, we’ll see an influx of people losing the roof over their head through no fault of their own.
That’s why we have 3 clear asks for the government
- Speed up its plans to scrap section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions
- Revise ground 8 section 8 — another eviction mechanism, which is mandatory for rent arrears — to make it discretionary for 6–12 months
- Only introduce the pre-action protocol (a way for tenants to pay down their arrears) once the above reforms have been made.
Where people can’t repay arrears in a reasonable amount of time, the government should consider further intervention to stop people losing their homes as a result of coronavirus.
Here’s more detail on why
In March, the government’s emergency legislation increased eviction notice periods for most renters to 3 months, and with the Master of the Rolls, paused court proceedings on housing possession for at least 90 days. This protection is due to come to an end on 25 June.
Yet, as it stands — on 25 June — more than 2.6 million renters will be behind, or expect to fall behind, on their rent due to coronavirus. They’ll have no protection from eviction action.
There are 2 main ways for private landlords to evict their tenants for rent arrears:
- Serve a section 21 ‘no-fault’ eviction notice. It’s called that because landlords don’t have to declare a reason why a tenant is being evicted. It’s a fast-tracked process as there is no ground for eviction that the landlord has to prove in court.
- Serve a notice through section 8 procedure. There are different grounds for eviction that a landlord will have to use to apply to the court for a possession order. These fall into 2 distinct categories: mandatory and discretionary.
If a landlord applies to the court using a mandatory ground (for example, ground 8 on rent arrears) and the court decides that the requirements to evict the tenant under this ground have been met, it must grant the landlord the order for possession.
Both of these eviction methods need to change to prevent a cliff-edge for renters
Once the current protections end, there’s no more safety net for renters. Landlords can — if they want to — use either, or both, of these eviction methods to make sure that tenants with rent arrears leave their properties after 25 June.
That’s why abolishing section 21 is key for any successful protection for people who have built up arrears as a result of coronavirus. Without that protection, any wider measures to help people stay in their homes can be bypassed.
By temporarily revising ground 8 (the mandatory rent arrears ground) under section 8 for 6–12 months to a discretionary ground, we can make certain the government’s intention for no renter to lose their home due to arrears built up as a result of coronavirus or social distancing measures.
Alongside eviction reforms, people will also need new methods to repay debts they’ve built up due to coronavirus in a sustainable way
Yet, many sectors — including private renting — don’t have formal mechanisms to help consumers of essential services repay missed payments sustainably. Last month, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that it’s working with the Master of the Rolls to strengthen the pre-action protocol in social housing (a mechanism for landlords and tenants to agree how a tenant will build down their arrears) and extend it to the private rented sector. While this is promising, we’re concerned this won’t go far enough.
While mandatory eviction grounds still exist, it would be very hard for a court not to grant a possession order to a landlord if they hadn’t followed the pre-action protocol. Courts could only show discretion in whether to grant the order if the ground was discretionary. While they still exist, these mandatory grounds will continue to be more attractive options for landlords to pursue.
Landlords are also under no obligation to negotiate with tenants on rent arrears. This leads to a perpetual cycle of arrears and insecurity
Tenants have very little bargaining power within the private rented sector. For example, 2.4 million households in England are only shown their tenancy agreement after putting down money, and almost 1 in 3 renters would not feel confident negotiating terms and conditions of their tenancy agreement with their landlord.
Extending the pre-action protocol for social housing to the private rented sector will only be effective once section 21 has been abolished and ground 8 has been revised to be a discretionary ground. Until those protections are strengthened and tenants are able to enforce their rights, and negotiate appropriate debt repayment plans, they will continue to be evicted.
Existing sanctions for social landlords not complying with the protocol should also be extended to the private rented sector to encourage landlords and tenants to use this time to seek non-court solutions to manage tenants’ debt.
We’re fast approaching a cliff-edge where renters face a wave of evictions — it’s crucial the government acts now to provide a safety net in the next few weeks.
