The plans to abolish Section 21 Evictions in England and Wales will be indefinitely delayed until after the Court System is reformed, the government have earlier this week confirmed.
The Renters Reform Bill was initially vowed to end the right of Landlords to evict tenants without needing a reason in 2019, however the Housing Secretary Michael Gove advised it was vital for courts to be updated first. Gove is adamant that the ban cannot be implemented before a series of improvements are made in the court system, as this is the process used by most landlords to reclaim possession of their property, however Labour have associated the delay with the governments fears that legal reforms would take years to complete.
Mayor, Sadiq Khan urges the Goverment not to delay this Bill any further as almost 300 London renters face no-fault evictions each week. Research shows if the new law does not come in until next year, thousands more Londoners will be affected, based on figures from 2023 so far, a six month delay could result in approximately 15,000 Londoners facing no-fault evictions.
The benefits of abolishing no-fault evictions gives people more security in their homes and to challenge poor practices. It also gives more protections for Landlords to repossess properties where tenants are antisocial, alongside creating a new Ombudsman to help resolve issues more quickly. In order to evict tenants after the end of Section 21, Landlords will need to use the revised Section 8 Ground for Possession - this requires the Landlord to give a reason ('grounds') for the eviction. Whether the reason is that the Landlord wants to sell the property, move back in, or because the tenant is in rent arrears, they could all be covered by Section 8. However, tenants will be able to choose to end the tenancy at any time, as long as they provide two month's notice to the landlord.
As a result of the delay of the Second Reading of the Renters Reform Bill it looks like the Bill is now unlikely to recieve Royal Assent until the spring of 2024 at the earliest and maybe not until the autumn of 2024.
