A spokesperson for the Citizens Advice charity has claimed at a public meeting that private landlords serve Section 21 notices on tenants to avoid doing repairs.

Kirsty Rowlinson is reported to have told a meeting of Southampton council just before Christmas: “We see quite a lot of seemingly retaliatory evictions.

A tenant will ask for repairs to be carried out and they will see soon after the landlords just issued a section 21.

“The legal process as I understand it for getting a tenant evicted is far quicker than the legal process for getting repairs done, so the landlord knows that the tenant is going to be gone before the court case for the repairs comes through. This is what we are seeing at Citizens Advice in Southampton.”

According to a report on the website of the Southampton Daily Echo, Rowlinson claimed that 45 per cent of the 2,200 housing issues notified to the charity in. Southampton in 2023 related to the private rental sector.

She continued: “Sanctions, section 21s and rent arrears have risen hugely in Southampton over the last couple of quarters. The last couple of months in particular we are really feeling the increase. Landlords want to raise the rent and tenants aren’t able to afford the increase.

“Sometimes landlords want to move into the property themselves or want to move family members into the property and some landlords have bitten off more than they can chew – they can’t afford the mortgage and they are selling their property.”

Last year the Citizens Advice charity nationally claimed landlords were the Renters Reform Bill – which is expected to have its Third Reading in the Commons this month – still allowed backdoor evictions. 

A statement from the charity last year said: “New grounds in the Renters Reform Bill will allow landlords to evict tenants just six months into a tenancy if they wish to sell a property or move family in. Citizens Advice’s research found 48 per cent of renters who have experienced an eviction had been told their landlord wanted to sell up. But worryingly, the new rules won’t require landlords to give evidence they have followed through on this once a tenant has left.

“Citizens Advice is also warning landlords may use excessive rent increases as a way of forcing tenants out. Last year [2022] 1.8 million households either had their rent increased or were threatened with an increase, with 300,000 renters forced out of their home by a rent increase. The charity found less than 10 per cent of renters who challenged a rent increase from their landlord were successful, with options for tenants limited and often inaccessible.”

Citizens Advice wants the length of time new tenants are protected from eviction to be increased from six months to two years.