News / acorn
Victory for collective action as government set to ban ‘no-fault’ evictions
Campaigners in Bristol have welcomed government plans to ban landlords from evicting tenants at short notice, without good reason.
The announcement on Monday has been hailed a victory for collective action and follows a campaign by a coalition of renter unions and grassroots organisations to scrap Section 21 of the 1988 Housing Act, which allows so-called ‘no-fault’ evictions, causing misery for thousands of private renters.
A petition to fight for its abolition gained 50,000 signatures in just ten weeks.
is needed now More than ever
Campaigners took their petition to parliament
Nick Ballard is the national organiser at ACORN, a tenants and community union founded in Bristol five years ago that has expanded across the country.
He said: “This is a victory for everyone fighting for secure housing. This was not a gift from a benevolent government. The collective strength of organised tenants forced them into this concession.
“We’ve fought Section 21 on the front line: in our communities, door by door and street by street our members put themselves in the way of landlords and bailiffs; physically preventing evictions.
“This is a huge win but there’s more to come. Next are rent controls to ensure that housing becomes a social and human right and not an asset generating profits for a few.
“Solidarity is strength. We know what we’re entitled to and we’re taking what’s ours.”
Announcing a consultation on the proposed plans on Monday (April 15), housing secretary James Brokenshire, said the changes would effectively create open-ended tenancies.
At present, Section 21 allows landlords to evict tenants without giving a reason, making possible revenge evictions, whereby people lose their homes after asking for repairs or making complaints.
It has been recognised as the leading cause of homelessness in England.
Bristol’s privately rented housing accounts for 28.9 per cent (58,093) of the city’s housing stock – a growth of four per cent since the 2011 and nine per cent above the national average, according to figures from ACORN.
ACORN, Generation Rent, London Renters Union, Tenants Union UK and the New Economics Foundation were among the many groups and organisations that campaigned for the abolition of Section 21.
Generation Rent says the implementation of changes must be carefully handled, warning that no fault evictions won’t make the difference needed if landlords can increase the rent to drive out tenants economically if they report a leak.
Read more: ‘Dangerous minority of landlords preying on Bristol’s mist vulnerable people’
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