Official figures show that homelessness in the UK is not caused by rising
rents but by landlords quitting the private rented sector.
The data from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
shows that between October and December last year, households that were
threatened with homelessness rose by 7.13%.
The total figure for households who were facing homelessness was 31,090, of
which 5,260 had been served with a section 21 notice – that’s a rise of
168% from the year before.
It’s also much more than the October to December 2019 figure of 3,830
before the Covid-19 lockdown.
Why households need to be rehoused
And when the government data is analysed to show why households need to be
rehoused because their tenancy has ended, the biggest reason for the rise
is revealed to be landlords wanting to either re-let or sell their
property.
According to the figures, last year saw the number of landlords leaving the
PRS rocketing by 146% when compared to 2020, and it is up by 19% in the
same period in 2019.
Researchers found that a tenancy is 40 times less likely to be ended
because the renter cannot afford to pay their rent.
Propertymark’s head of policy, Timothy Douglas, said the data highlights
the biggest threat facing the rental sector is down to having few
incentives for a landlord to keep their rental properties in the market.
‘Questions the validity of rent control calls’
He said: “It also questions the validity of rent control calls because rent
rises are not, clearly, the major cause of homelessness.
“More challenges will come with the renters’ reform agenda that looks to
pave the way for removing section 21.”
He added: “The government must study the figures and ensure that sector
reform is balanced and have policies for maintaining investment and
encouraging more.”
Simon Thompson, the managing director of Accommodation for Students, said:
“There’s no doubt that the rent reforms being planned for the rental sector
will be controversial, but it is important for people to understand why
homelessness is rising – and it appears that it’s not rising rents but
fed-up landlords leaving the sector.
“A lot of the debate over the future of the private rented sector never
appears to take into account the investment, time and trouble that
landlords make to deliver a safe and comfortable home for tenants, and that
most tenants are happy with their rented homes.”
Housing charity Shelter slammed by landlords and agents
Meanwhile, a call made by the homeless housing charity Shelter for section
21 eviction notices to be banned has led to criticism from landlords and
agents.
Among them is the chief executive of Propertymark, Nathan Emerson, who hit
back at claims that the private rental sector is ‘broken’.
The move follows Shelter’s claim that a section 21 eviction notice has been
handed out every seven minutes to tenants over the last three years.
However, official data shows that section 21 evictions have, overall, been
declining.
Now Mr Emerson says that the ‘relentless campaign’ by Shelter is not
representative of the country’s private rented sector.
‘Renters were aware of receiving a section 21’
He said: “They say that 2% of renters were aware of receiving a section 21
over the last three years, meaning that 98% of renters had not.
“Research shows that most tenancies, in reality, are ended by the tenant.”
He pointed out that with landlords facing anti-social behaviour, mounting
arrears and refusal to give access to their property and property damage
means that a section 21 is usually the most effective and quickest way to
resolve a situation.
Mr Emerson added: “With a landlord facing £20,000 of arrears and not using
a section 21 means they will need to pay court fees to seek possession.”
Erode the fair rights of a property owner
He says that a tenancy is a contract between two parties, and it must serve
to protect both landlord and tenant, but anyone seeking to erode the fair
rights of a property owner will be ‘doing nothing to support a tenant’.
The National Residential Landlords’ Association (NRLA) has also stepped in
to accuse Shelter of adopting a ‘disappointingly one-sided’ and
‘anti-landlord’ position.
The organisation’s chief executive, Ben Beadle, has now written to the
charity highlighting that official figures reveal that only a small
minority of cases will see a tenancy being ended by a letting agent or
landlord.
He added that landlords would prefer to sustain a tenancy and keep their
tenant in their home rather than evicting them.
He also criticised the organisation for failing to point out that
possession case numbers being brought to court are falling – they fell by
56% between 2019 and 2021.
