← Back to News
MP sets out “revenge eviction” claims
A Liberal Democrat MP is accusing landlords of conducting so-called revenge evictions and re-letting properties where “unsanitary and unsafe conditions – such as exposed electrical wiring, severe damp, or serious infestations – are ignored.”
Sarah Teather MP, who has made the allegations, is guiding a Private Members’ Bill through parliament attempting to introduce protection for tenants against such evictions and to amend the law on notices seeking possession relating to assured short hold tenancies. Next week the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Private Rented Sector is staging an enquiry taking oral evidence about the alleged problem.
Now Teather has written a piece in The Guardian to claim that two per cent of renters in the private sector have been victim of revenge evictions, where landlords allegedly throw out their tenants simply because they have requested repair work to be completed.
“The problem is worst where the housing crisis is most acute – 14 per cent of families renting in London have been hit with revenge evictions in the last year alone. The figures for black and minority ethnic renters (10 per cent) and families receiving housing benefit (seven per cent) are also shocking” she writes.
She also cites a figure from Shelter alleging that one in nine tenants in London are living in fear of a revenge eviction, although Teather concedes this is difficult to measure.
“Having spoken to landlords, I know they feel frustrated when their tenants fail to report problems. Many only discover that there is a serious issue at the end of a tenancy, and in the time it takes to fix the problem, they lose out on rental income” the MP accepts.
Teather describes her PMB as “a small tweak to existing legislation” which would prevent landlords from evicting a tenant for no reason within six months of receiving an improvement or hazard awareness notice, and she insists landlords will only be stopped from using section 21 powers “following intervention by the council.”
Teather claims that under her suggestion, when a complaint is received a local authority will contact the landlord to resolve the problem, only serving a statutory notice if the landlord is clearly at fault and there is a serious issue with the property.
“Landlords will still be able to evict tenants who are in rent arrears and exemptions will also apply where a landlord is selling the property. In short, law-abiding landlords will still be able to evict as before, and they will also benefit from tenants who feel more confident to report issues as they arise” she says.
