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TODAY'S OTHER NEWS

Generation Rent to lead activists’ lobby of MPs today

Activists including Generation Rent are to lobby MPs this afternoon, to complain against eviction notice periods in England reverting to pre-Covid levels.

The Renters’ Reform Coalition - officially a group of 20 campaign groups, but operating from the Generation Rent address - has dubbed today “Renters Day.”

Sue James, chair of the coalition, says: “The pandemic has painfully reminded us of the importance of a safe and secure home, yet the lifting of the eviction restrictions takes that basic need further away. 

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“Private renters cannot go back to the status quo - of high rents, unsafe homes and insecure tenancies. It’s time to make private renting better, not worse.

“More than two years since the government’s original pledge to abolish section 21, renters are still waiting for a fairer system. Now that Parliament has returned, we have a once in a generation opportunity to ensure the private rented sector is secure and safe.”

The government is reinstating the pre-Covid notice periods for evictions in England from October 1. 

Therefore landlords giving notice to evict via either a Section 21 or Section 8 notice will need to give two months’ notice - it will no longer be the six months period required under Coronavirus legislation, which will remain in force until October 1. 

James says her coalition wants an end to what she calls “unfair” evictions, the introduction of open ended secure tenancies, and the creation of a national register of landlords to raise standards.

There are also three very broad demand to “stop illegal evictions, end discrimination in rented homes, [and] tackle the affordability crisis.”

Promotional material ahead of today’s lobby - released to try to persuade activists to attend - says: “Right now, renters can be evicted for no reason by their landlords, under section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act. 

“The notice period landlords must give has been extended during the pandemic but will revert to two months.

“Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions can prevent renters from feeling safe in their homes or asking for repairs, and are a leading cause of homelessness. Losing a home can be traumatic, stressful, and challenging for anyone, but for renters struggling to make ends meet, this can add to the difficulties they are already experiencing. 

“The government pledged to end section 21 in 2019. Since then, coronavirus has only reinforced the importance of a safe and secure home that they can afford. For many private renters, this basic right is currently out of reach.”

Want to comment on this story? If so...if any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.

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    Landlords will make sure that tenants are safe and secure by only taking tenants when they are absolutely certain that they will not cause any problems in the future. Anyone else will have to look elsewhere.
    If GR want a safe and secure home that they can afford to be a basic human right then they are looking in the wrong place. They should be asking why government is not fulfilling its duty to its citizens to provide for their basic needs.

  •  G romit

    Abolishing Sec.21 Notices will make it harder and more costly to evict rogue tenants i.e. those tenants that Generation Rent, Shelter, Acorn et al seelk to protect.
    The result if they are successful is that more Landlords will exit the market (evicting their tenants in the process) and those that remain will charge higher rents. Tenants will have difficulty moving as there will be fewer properties available, and the choice if any will be minimal.
    Generation Rent you have been warned, you'll reap what you sow!!

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    If these people are so unhappy with renting the answer is simple !

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    Very few evictions are unfair, most are due to non payment of rent , of course a tenant who has been evicted for non payment is never going to admit to it, they will always say their eviction was unfair .

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    The majority of Landlords in the Private Rental Sector, are proud to provide a professional, good service to our tenants, despite this constant onslaught from the likes of Generation Rent, Shelter etc. Many of our tenants have enjoyed living in our properties (their homes) for many years, but, of course this is never mentioned by the activists.

    We are starting to sell some of our properties now and unfortunately our tenants will have to find somewhere else - who should they thank for our decision??????

  • girish mehta

    Tenants need to ask themselves. Can they afford to pay the rent and follow rental contract. If not then reset your expectations. Move in back to mum and dad until you all grow up to understand what is expected of you

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    Very soon now landlords are going to start selling up en masse. The government sadly always sides with Shelter and do not listen to landlords, their "consultation" with the industry is mere lip service. The tenant fee ban was an example of this, tenants are paying more now as a result, the whole industry knows this but the headline-grabbing "tenant fee ban" gives the public the impression that government has helped. Government policy is now starting to hit supply as landlords sell up. Will all these tenants buy up the stock, I doubt it as the majority can barely afford a deposit for a tenancy never mind a 5-10% deposit for a mortgage. If supply reduces price will increase it is simple economics the elasticity of supply and demand. Government policy is reducing supply and to their surprise rents are now going through the roof across the country. How many of the 12 or so housing ministers have any experience of the sector, probably none. Government should be encouraging landlords and that would increase supply and reduce rents, but of course that would not win votes. Lobby this government hard enough and it caves in to vote winning policies rather than common sense. Shelter really are nothing more than a left wing organisation out to hurt landlords. Carry on landlord bashing and you will reap what you sow, less stock and higher rents.

  • Daniela Provvedi

    I will never, and have never, asked anyone to leave my property for no reason. You take care of my property, and you're allowed to stay for as long as you wish. This is my job and my only income, so I have no reason to get rid of you if you're good.
    However, every new Tenant moving into my properties from now on, will provide me with a home-owning Guarantor, otherwise they will not be my Tenant.
    If they're going to take Sec 21 away from us, then Tenants better be squeaky clean to move into my property.
    GR can campaign as much as they want to; my house, my rules.

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    Agreed now is the time to be very careful when selecting new tenants, and I'm finding that every time I have a property come available I have a good few tenants to chose from.

     
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    Homeowner guarantors all the way. Amazing when they are told before they sign as guarantor what will be expected of them and what will happen if tenant doesn’t pay or damages property. About a third withdraw as guarantor immediately cos they know what the tenant is about. Saved me thousands this

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    I compared using section 21 with section 8 over 25 years ago and came to the conclusion that using section 8 for me was the best option. I cannot see why anyone would bother to use section 21 as it is a much slower process to evict. With the need to now prove you have served a right to rent, gas certificate and EPC it would reinforce my decision to keep well clear of section 21s Since then I must have housed well over 10,000 tenants and evicted over 350 using the courts and a lot more using charm and personality and have had 100% success using section 8. I only evict for a cause which is always rent arrears. I have never had to use the anti social behaviour route as all antisocial tenants don't pay the rent.

    I have written a manual to show other landlords how easy it is to evict for rent arrears using section 8 giving my experience of tackling the problems I've encountered in the 350 evictions that I have done

    I only say the above to reassure landlords the loss of section 21 will be no loss. I think it is a good thing that tenants have security. I want my good tenants to stay and never leave
    Jim Haliburton
    The HMO Daddy

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    Good morning Jim will you stop, it looks like you have re-posted which I thoroughly disagree with. Keep your section 8 by all means but why are you campaigning to get rid of Section 21 the foundation of Private Letting Industry. I won’t call it Buy 2 Let because it wasn’t known as buy to let, it was Secured in Commercial loans all that came afterwards as well as you, where were you or HMO for that matter. We had campaigned for Assured Shorthold Tenancies which was accompanied by Section 21 resulting in the 1988 housing Act.
    HMO’s only came into being in 2006 following 2 Jags John 2004 Act, no queens bury rules for him. That’ll be your remit the HMO expert and were we not operating Section 21 for 18 years before you & HMO’s started (different between 1988 & 2006) now you dictate to us about S. 21. I have Built many of my Houses by my own hand with only hand tools and no electric on site when cordless wasn’t invented, no funding Schemes or hand outs from Government either so it’s fair to say I Build my Industry but you come lately and wrote the Book. Please don’t move to Shelter.

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    I can see the possibility that if Section 21 goes it’s likely Assured Shorthold Tenancies goes too and you’ll end up with Assured Tenancies. I hope you all know the difference, good morning.

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