The Baroness leading the Generation Rent campaign group is accusing many landlords of failing to sell – despite having said they would do.
The group says its research in Scotland – based on a small sample of just 125 evictions in three years – shows that nearly a third of private landlords who evicted in order to sell the property had failed to sell the home more than a year later.
A further nine percent of cases of tenants evicted on grounds of sale saw the home sold to another landlord who re-let the property.
Generation Rent is calling for extra protections for tenants who face eviction for reasons beyond their control, including a requirement for landlords who wish to sell to advertise the property with a sitting tenant before seeking eviction, relocation payments for tenants, and periods where the landlord cannot evict tenants who have not broken the terms of their tenancy agreement.
Campaign director Baroness Alicia Kennedy says: “These cases represent a minority of evictions in Scotland but the number of properties that are re-let instead of being sold, or are bought by another landlord, indicate that tenants are still getting a raw deal.
“Despite the 2017 reforms, this research suggests it is too easy for landlords to claim a ground for sale yet seemingly abandon plans to sell them. That’s why we’d like to see incentives for landlords to keep the tenant in place.
“The consequences of ground 1 evictions are devastating for the tenant. Unwanted moves cause stress, loss of savings and risk of debt, and disruption to education and work.
“Landlords will always need the option to sell, but governments in both Scotland and England must ensure that private renters have the best shot at a long-term.”
In Scotland, private landlords can only end a tenancy that started since 2017 if they have one of 18 legitimate grounds.
If a tenant served with an eviction notice does not leave after the notice period ends, the landlord must apply to the Tribunal to seek possession.
Generation Rent says that in its survey, out of 74 cases where the landlord was awarded possession between 2018 and 2020 based on their intention to sell, 21 had still not been sold.
Ten of those were still on the Scottish landlord register, suggesting they had simply been re-let.
A further seven homes had been sold but were registered to a different landlord indicating – says the Baroness – that the original tenant could have stayed put and the eviction was unnecessary.
