The Baroness who leads the Generation Rent campaign has made a sharp attack on section 21 notices.

Baroness Alicia Kennedy says: “A Section 21 notice pulls the rug out from under you. As long as the landlord serves it correctly, you have to move out. That means very few tenants challenge it in court. 

“And because landlords don’t need a reason for eviction, it also means that many tenants live in fear of losing their home and families throughout England have no confidence to put down roots in their local area.

“Renters have been waiting two years for the government to make good on its promise to ban these unfair evictions. If it weren’t for Section 21, 700,000 renters would not have faced an unwanted move during a pandemic and millions more would have confidence to plan their lives.”

Kennedy’s figures come from a survey by the Renters’ Reform Coalition, a campaign body operating under the Generation Rent umbrella.

This survey says that one in 12 private renters have been given formal notice to move out without a reason since March 2020; this means, suggests Generation Rent, that as many as 694,000 private tenants have been served with a Section 21 notice to quit during the pandemic.

The survey also found that one in three private renters fear that they will lose their home in the year ahead – which represents nearly three million adults in England.

Two years ago today the government announced plans to abolish Section 21 and introduce open-ended tenancies.

While the initial Section 21 notice is only the first stage of the legal eviction process, a valid notice cannot be overturned in court. That means most tenants who receive one have nothing to gain by challenging the notice and move out before the case reaches court. Invalid notices can be challenged.